From being the first rider to land a double backflip on natural terrain to winning the Crankworx Joyride, Paul Basagoitia has done some pretty rad things in his career, but as far as we’re concerned, nothing beats this. For the first time since his horrific crash at the 2015 Red Bull Rampage, Paul is riding a bike again.
Paul was riding in his finals run at Red Bull Rampage and crashed hitting one of the biggest step downs in the event’s history. He shattered his T12 vertebrae, underwent nine hours of surgery and found himself paralysed.
He’s still not walking but, for the first time since the event, he’s managed to ride a bike according to a post on his Instagram. Basagoitia said: “My dad always joked around that I was able to pedal a bike before I was able to walk.. Well in this case it’s actually true! I’m very blessed to be able to pedal a bike after my injury. I still have a long way to go but I’m not giving up on any of my future goals.”
The mountain bike community raised nearly $100,000 to help Paul’s recovery and his crash helped highlight the problems with the Rampage format, leading to a more safe event to be organised for 2016.
Of course, Paul is a long way off where he was before the incident but it’s amazing to see him rolling on two wheels again. We wish him all the best in his future recovery and you can follow his progress here.
