A week ago, while attending my high school class reunion, I had a bit of time on my hands and a book that’s been staring at me on my desk for a couple of months now, asking to be read. It’s the type of story I’m very familiar with, as I wrote a magazine piece for the Detroit Free Press back in the mid-1980s on the same kind of subject: a young person recovering from a traumatic brain injury.
Back then, I was following the story of a young mother (Alice), age 21, with three daughters ages 3, 2 and 1. Alice’s goal was straight-forward: She wanted to recover enough so that she could be a normal mother for her three girls. For each person who suffers a traumatic brain injury, the story is the same and different. I doubt there’s a patient with that diagnosis that doesn’t want to make it back to where they were before – being a regular person.
The book that’s been staring at me for the whole summer? Saul Raisin and Dave Shields’ Tour de Life. In case you don’t know the backstory, it’s about Saul Raisin, who crashed on the 193 kilometer opening stage of the 2006 Circuit de la Sarthe. The race ran from Moullieron Le Captif to Saint Mars La Jeille. Saul Raisin fell about 2 kilometers from the end, suffering cuts and abrasions to his face, along with a broken collarbone.
For the first couple of days after the race, he was banged up, but appeared to be recovering well. And then the bottom dropped out. Raisin needed emergency brain surgery to relieve pressure on his brain. From that moment onwards, his life became an heroic struggle to get back to the way he was.
Tour de Life chronicles that struggle, opening with an account of the early days after his injury, including his parents rushing to France to be with their son, Raisin’s girlfriend at the time (Daniela) rushing to his side from her home in Germany, and all the trials and tribulations of seeing Saul hospitalized in a place where his parents couldn’t speak the language, and did not understand the local customs. Fortunately for his parents, Daniela speaks French and acted as their interpreter.
It’s a story well written, leaving the reader feeling as if he or she is right there as the Raisins deal with their son’s difficult situation, and as they work to bring him home for long term treatment. The first part of the story ends as Shields chronicles the trip from France to Atlanta, Georgia, where Raisin would be an inpatient at the Shepherd Center, a hospital that specializes in the treatment of people with brain injuries.
The second part of the book is told by Saul, from his own point of view, as he very rapidly improves. His determination to get back on his bike and ride is unshakable. But before he can do that, he has to learn to walk again, and overcome some paralysis on his left side. Let me tell you, having covered this kind of story, that what Saul Raisin has achieved is nothing short of incredible. Very often, patients with brain injuries can only regain a part of what they had before.
That Raisin learned to walk again is impressive on its own (and he succeeded in taking a few steps and giving his mother a hug as his Mother’s Day gift to her). That he did it so quickly is a true marvel. And for those who have been following his story, it gets better than that. Raisin has managed to get back on his bike, and as of last weekend, do his first post-crash race.
Also amazing, especially in this age of short-lived allegiances, Saul’s team — Credit Agricole — stuck with him in the aftermath of his crash. Credit Agricole, managed by Roger Legeay, is the latest incarnation of the Z-Peugeot team that featured another American rider who overcame life-threatening injuries (Greg LeMond) and returned to competition. The team morphed into GAN in the 1990s, and by the late 1990s, Credit Agricole took over as title sponsor.
Raisin’s story is an inspiration to read, especially at a time when the sport of cycling finds its image constantly sullied by accusations of doping leveled against riders too numerous to mention. His story is every bit as inspiring as Lance Armstrong overcoming cancer to race (and win on seven occasions) the Tour de France, or Floyd Landis winning the Tour with a bad hip. And it adds a new element, because all too often those who suffer brain injuries don’t fully regain their former lives.
Saul Raisin has achieved an incredible thing, just by getting back to racing. From here, it will be interesting to see what he achieves next. But better than that, he serves as an inspiration to all those who are similarly afflicted. Even if the odds are long, it is possible to come back from such injuries to lead a full life.
And what happened to the woman whose story I covered twenty-odd years ago? She actually did manage to regain enough function to be a good mother to her kids. Her speech wasn’t perfect (most days, she could only manage a whisper), but she also managed to make a remarkable comeback. Not quite as remarkable as Saul Raisin’s, but better than any of her doctors expected.
