Courier Mail: Back for Amy’s Ride - 25 August, 2006

Road to recovery . . . Australian champion Lorian Graham is cycling again 12 months after the horrific crash in Germany in which Amy Gillett was killed

After enduring five operations and more than 12 roller-coaster months of intense physiotherapy, Queensland cyclist Lorian Graham is back on her bike. Graham was one of five cyclists whose lives and bodies were shattered when hit by a runaway car in Thuringen, Germany, in July last year.

Team-mate and good friend Amy Gillett was killed. It is fitting that Graham’s first major ride will be the 100km Portfolio Partners South Bank to Surfers ride on December 9, known as Amy’s Ride, to raise funds and awareness for the Amy Gillett Foundation.

“I feel like I’ve been drowning for 12 months and I’ve just had that first taste of air,” Graham said. “It’s a huge sigh of relief, I can get my normal life back.” Last year’s Australian champion does not know yet whether she will return to international racing. She is simply grateful that it is now her choice. The 28-year-old said recovering emotionally, physically and mentally from the accident had been hard.

Her right knee was shattered in the accident and in May she had a risky fifth and final operation to cut and release knee tendons riddled with scar tissue. It took another two months for her to regain the movement needed to ride again. A week ago, Graham rode in a criterium at Nundah watched by “all the people who mattered” – her family, friends and physiotherapist Ed Fitzgerald.

“It was an incredible feeling, riding in the sun and with the wind in your face,” Graham said. “I felt like I was in control . . . but I also felt like someone had given me a bike for the first time. It was very emotional. My arms were shaking.” Graham hopes to bring further closure to her trauma by returning in October to the accident site and to personally thank the medical staff and hospital translator in Thuringen.

Tour de France green jersey winner Robbie McEwen will be among many cycling stars who will take part in Amy’s Ride, with organisers hoping more than 1000 people will sign up for either the 100km or 50km (joining at Yatala) events.

Information: www.amygillett.org.au