What should have been a fun training ride for Sven Pijnenburg (23) from Raamsdonksveer ended in drama. The cyclist collided with a truck and eventually had his left leg amputated. To WielerFlits he looks back on the day of the accident, which still haunts his mind every day. “I still don’t sleep well, I worry a lot and on some days when you have less to do, you are also busy with it a lot.”
Pijnenburg had just returned from a training camp in Spain, when things went completely wrong during a training ride near Raamsdonksveer. The cyclist from the JEGG-SKIL-DJR team was hit by a truck carrying sand, with the vehicle partially running over his leg.
“It’s very shocking to think about the damage these types of cars can cause if they make a small mistake. When I lay there, I remember thinking that it could have been much worse,” he says. CyclingFlits.
The cyclist broke his leg in nine places and lost three liters of blood. He was immediately admitted to intensive care, spent seven weeks in hospital and underwent seventeen operations.
His left leg could not be saved. “There were so many blows in those first weeks. At first, only a part below the knee would be amputated, then a part upwards again, and another part upwards. There was a lot of resistance.”
“Sometimes I think my leg is still attached.”
Mentally, the amputation was a huge blow. He receives a lot of support from family members and friends from the sport and he now sees some bright spots. “In terms of pain, it’s not too bad now, but in my head it takes some getting used to. Sometimes I think my leg is still attached and then I try to lean on that leg, but of course that’s not possible at all. On Monday I went to a rehabilitation center, where they told me that they expect me to be able to walk again in fifteen weeks with a prosthesis.”
The love for cycling has not disappeared, but now as a spectator for the time being. “Cycling is the most beautiful sport there is, but it has done something terrible to my life.”
He tries to continue exercising and his future may lie in paracycling, he tells WielerFlits. “It’s bizarre how quickly you make that a goal in your head. With a view to the future, that could be something for me. The KNWU can always call me, haha.”
