BarcelonaAna Carrasco (Murcia, 1997) is synonymous with struggle and resilience. Just a year ago she suffered a serious accident that caused her to fracture two vertebrae, but she, far from doubting or giving up, struggled to be where she is today: on top of the bike. The rider, visiting Barcelona thanks to the Superbike Championship that stops in Montmeló, attends ARA to speak openly about her painful and difficult recovery, her fears and the need to feel proud of herself.
You had the accident just a year ago. How do you remember it if you look back?
– I see it right now and it seems that there has not been so much, but at the time I lived it was very complicated. The hardest part was the first day, when I had the accident. I was alone in Portugal because my parents were at home, in Murcia, and I was with the team.
All the alarms went off and they took you to the hospital right away.
– We were in the middle of a pandemic and I had to be alone in the hospital, no one from the team could enter because they were not family. The hospital was a bit tricky too … The typical emergency room where we were all separated by curtains. They couldn’t tell me what I had. I was tested but nothing. It was a bit tricky because they didn’t speak English or Spanish either. It was chaos and I just wanted to come to Barcelona.
The hours in the hospital while you waited were very hard.
– In addition to the pain, they immobilize you in a way that you can’t do anything … It was so hot that I vomited, but I had to do it on me because I couldn’t move. It was a very hard time … It was a horrible feeling and very difficult to deal with. And besides, I was alone on the plane, with the doctors, and then in the ambulance to the hospital, where my family was waiting for me. For me, getting to Barcelona was like being able to breathe. I knew the doctor who treated me here would be fine and from then on everything would be fine.
Wasn’t coming by plane the first option to move?
– I was there for almost 24 hours. Thanks to the Federation and the team, they were able to put me on a medical plane and I was able to come to Dexeus the next day. The trip was hell. At first they said they would take me by ambulance from Estoril to Barcelona. I thought I would die with potholes, movement … Luckily, we were able to go by plane.
And when you arrived in Barcelona, what did they tell you?
– The doctor took off my orthopedic collar because I didn’t have to wear everything I was wearing. The fractures in his vertebrae were at a height that did not require it. I stayed five days until I had surgery, and then a week in the hospital.
How did you manage to be in the hospital in covid times?
– My mother, fortunately, was off work and my father stopped working. They stayed here for a month and a half, because when I left the hospital I couldn’t do anything for myself. I couldn’t shower, go to the bathroom, move at night without getting hurt … I couldn’t live a normal life and I needed them. They were here until I could start walking and fend for myself.
How do you feel when you see yourself getting better every week?
– I was filtering what I was doing week by week and it was improving little by little. When I was able to re-do rehab with the physio and fitness trainer, I felt like I was getting back into the activity and getting closer to my old life. The hardest part was not being able to do anything for so long, and as I recovered from the activity I was doing better.
It was so hot in the hospital in Portugal that I vomited on it. ”
And you weren’t used to standing so long either.
– Not even in the covid era. It was a long time, including the second operation in January to remove material from me. I was at home with the family and trying not to see them in case it infected me and they couldn’t operate on me. It was all very strange.
Did you focus on recovering or did you already think about getting back on the bike?
– If it had been at another time of the season, I would have thought about competing again. But it was in the end, I had no options until the following season and I focused on myself. I wasn’t obsessed with coming back, I was aware it was a long process. I took the injury very well. Still, I am a very active person and I was in bed for about three weeks. I couldn’t do anything else.
What was it like to get back on the bike?
– It was at the Sallent karting and it was weird. It cost me a lot at first, but I looked very close to doing what I love again. Then I was able to get back on the bike in Montmeló and it went very well from the beginning, I had no doubts. I went as fast as before the accident.
Did you feel pressure not to get back on the bike by your parents, given the severity of the injury?
– People. This conversation never arose. Any mother or father would have told their child to let it be, but we never had that conversation. They know that’s what I want and they didn’t put me in the situation of having to decide or rethink my future as a pilot. We haven’t touched on the subject, they know that’s what I want to do. After all, I hadn’t been affected by mobility. It was a bone like any other, but it is true that it is scary to think about the consequences it could have had. Knowing I didn’t have them, the rest was to recover, and I knew I would be fine.
After a year, nothing seems to have happened. Are you proud of yourself?
– We are often obsessed with goals like winning. Sometimes it ends up playing against you and other times it helps you move on. In the end, when you only see one goal, you go there with all your might. Now when I think, for example, that I would like to be winning races, I remember everything I’ve achieved and how I’ve struggled to be where I am, and I relativize it. I managed to win in Misano and I felt so proud of myself … You always remember your people, the team, everyone who has worked hard to get you where you are. At that time, however, I also had a very great sense of pride in myself for how I struggled to be where I was. It was the first time I thought, “That’s what I did and it’s the wafer.”
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