Jakobsen speaks to the public for the first time since Poland crash
Fabio Jakobsen has released a personal statement for the first time since his horrific crash at the Tour of Poland, which left him with severe facial injuries and in an induced coma.
“Step by step I can slowly look to the future, and I will fight to recover,” Jakobsen said.
The statement was published on Deceuninck-Quick Step’s website on Tuesday. Jakobsen thanked doctors at the hospital he was taken to in Poland, discussed the immediate fear he felt after the crash and the injuries he sustained. He sustained numerous broken bones in his face and lost all of his teeth in the crash. He also suffered a severe concussion.
Jakobsen will seek to rest and recover in the coming months, and he will also undergo multiple surgeries.
He is currently at his home following surgeries in Poland and at the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands to repair facial damage.
Last week, Deceuninck team doctor Yvan Vanmol said he believed that Jakobsen “will be a bike racer again.”
The full statement:
It is now two weeks after my crash in Poland. The trauma doctors and nurses at the finish line in Katowice saved my life, for which I am extremely grateful to them. I spent a week in the intensive care unit at St. Barbara hospital in Sosnowiec. Here they immediately operated on me for five hours and gave me the chance to live. I am very grateful to all employees of this hospital.
It was a difficult, dark period for me in the ICU, where I was afraid of not surviving. Thanks in part to the organization behind the Tour de Pologne and my team Deceuninck – Quick-Step, my family was able to be close to me, which gave me a lot of strength.
Last Wednesday I was transferred to the Leiden University Medical Center. I was admitted to the ENT department and treated further. Step by step I can start to live more independently. Currently I am at home, where the wounds in my face and my injuries can continue to recover. In addition, I have to rest a lot in the coming months because of a severe concussion. In the coming weeks and months, I will undergo multiple surgeries and treatments to fix facial injuries.
Hereby, I want to let everyone know that I am very grateful that I am still alive. All the messages and words of support have given me tremendous strength. Step by step I can slowly look to the future, and I will fight to recover.
In particular I would like to thank Dr. Rafael, who was my surgeon in Poland, Dr. Vanmol, who was present as a team doctor in Poland, Patrick Lefevere who brought my family close to me and Agata Lang and family who, on behalf of the Tour of Poland, did very well in taking care of my family.
Fabio
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