Dalton Boy Takes Another Step

Raisin rides again at Crédit Agricole training camp
By Andrew Hood
VeloNews European correspondent
This report filed January 17, 2007

Saul Raisin - the 25-year-old American climber who nearly died from a brain hemorrhage after a high-speed crash last April - continues to defy expectations.

This week, Raisin joined his Crédit Agricole teammates for the team's preseason camp along France's Cote d'Azur and is laying plans for a comeback to racing this season.

"I've just been surprising everyone, including myself on how well I am doing," Raisin told VeloNews. "The doctors can't believe it. Statistically, I should be dead or in a wheelchair. At first I just wanted to be able to live a normal life again. Now I think I can race my bike again. It's been like a miracle."

Considering how much progress Raisin has made in the past several months, his presence at the demanding pre-season camp and the seven-hour rides that go with it remind many of a similar comeback by a certain rider from Texas about a decade ago.

"To get back to the training camp is like walking on the moon. That's how far out of reach riding a bike seemed for me after my accident," he continued. "To think I could be at the team camp right now would be just like saying I'm going to go for a walk on the moon."

Last April, Raisin underwent emergency brain surgery in a French hospital after he crashed headfirst with about three kilometers to go in the first stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe.

Raisin's best guess is that he slipped on gravel as the peloton ramped up for the final sprint, meaning the speeds could have been as high as 60kph when he fell. There were other crashes in the same stage, including one that left Tyler Farrar (Cofidis) with a broken collarbone.

"I hit the ground so hard, that the force of the crash went right through my helmet into my skull. I had 50 staples holding together my head after the crash," he said. "The doctors said if I didn't have my helmet on, my head would have cracked open like an egg."

Luckily for the affable Georgian, the nearby hospital in Angers happened to be France's leading head trauma facility. Had the accident happened anywhere in France, Raisin likely would have died because he wouldn't have received the proper medical attention.

Raisin suffered a life-threatening hemorrhage overnight in the hospital and doctors said he was within minutes of dying. So much so, they even suggested to Raisin's parents when they arrived from the United States that his organs be donated if the emergency surgery was unsuccessful.

Defying the odds, Raisin not only came out of the medicine-induced coma, he removed the breathing tube from the respirator himself. Since then, he's been making tremendous strides both in his physical and mental rehabilitation.

Working with the Shepherd Center - a leading catastrophic care hospital in Atlanta - he's regaining both his mental edge as well as the physical engine that made one of the most promising young American prospects. A battery of cognitive tests conducted in late November revealed he hasn't suffered any permanent brain and physical injuries.

If fact, doctors told him if he wasn't a professional cyclist he would have the green light to return to normal activities. Doctors cautioned, however, he cannot afford a serious fall on his head for at least one year following his injury and have urged a patient return to competition.

Bolstered by such good news, Raisin is seriously plotting a return to the peloton perhaps in time for the U.S. national championships in September.

"I was joking with (Crédit Agricole manager) Roger Legeay that I want to race at the Tour of California," Raisin said. "My comeback is only a matter of when. I don't want to comeback too soon and I want to wait until I am close to 100 percent strength. Right now I feel like I'm about 65 percent physically. I want to race before the end of the year. I don't see why not."

Unlike Cofidis, who dumped Lance Armstrong when he was stricken with cancer in 1996, Crédit Agricole has honored Raisin's contract and has continued to pay him throughout his long recovery. Raisin said the support from team staff and riders has been fundamental during the uncertain road back to full health.

"The team is just awesome. They've stuck with me and they've done the right thing," he said. "They're showing everyone just how much class they have."

Raisin will stay in Europe for another week and might return to Angers to meet the French doctor who conducted the surgery and saved his life.

Then he will host the "Saul Raisin - Raisin' Hope Ride" on March 31 in Dalton, Ga. He's also working on a book with cycling author Dave Shields that's expected to hit bookshelves in September.

From there, he'll travel back to his European home base in southern France later this spring where he'll begin earnest preparations for a return to racing.