In late March, etnies team rider Tom Dugan suffered a traumatic brain injury while riding at a Red Bull contest in Madrid, Spain. Dugan, who was wearing a helmet at the time, was catapulted over his handlebars during a one-handed no-footed cancan and knocked unconscious. After being taken to the hospital, he was placed in a medically induced coma for two days as Spanish doctors monitored him.
Dugan spent four days in the hospital, and was allowed to fly back to the U.S. six days after the crash. But he was not yet in the clear. Brain injuries of any type are serious, and because it comes with the territory, BMX pros are now being forced more and more to deal with the proper techniques to a full recovery, instead of just jumping back on the bike in a few days. The main focus of this recovery is to not re-injure the brain too soon after the initial injury, because a repeat injury that occurs before the brain recovers from the first can slow recovery or increase the likelihood of having long-term problems.
After being checked out by doctors in the U.S., Dugan was told to stay off his bike for three months to allow his brain to fully heal, which he has largely adhered to. (He's ridden a few times though, according to Twitter.) While not riding, or doing any of the million things Tom Dugan seems to do on a daily basis, Dugan decided to document his bouts with post-concussion syndrome and how he is learning to deal with the effects.
Doctors typically advise those recovering from brain injuries to avoid stress, so Dugan chose to focus on the more simpler things in life, such as cleaning the house, organizing his belongings and more, documented in the above video from etnies Footwear.
Dugan, who rides for Fit Bike Co., Odyssey, etnies and Empire BMX, is on the invite list for BMX Park at X Games Los Angeles, and hopes to be riding in time for the event. In the meantime, if your house is dirty or you're in need of some original Tom Dugan artwork, hit him up on Twitter.
