Amy Pieters suffers recovery setback after epileptic seizures
The Dutchwoman continues to ride outside with an adapted bike and now has a system to warn her of a seizure.
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Amy Pieters has endured a setback in her recovery from a horrible crash at the end of 2021 after suffering a series of epileptic seizures.
The seizures have meant that the progress she has been making has slowed and she has lost some of the mobility she regained during her extensive therapy since the incident.
“It’s been quiet around Amy Pieters for a while and there are reasons for that. Her rehabilitation can sometimes go less good. This is mainly due to a number of setbacks that she had to deal with,” an update on the SD Worx team website read. “Pieters has had several epileptic seizures in a short period of time that slowed down her recovery.
“As a result, she has suffered a relapse in her mobility and her motivation to recover is also somewhat difficult due to the adjusted medication. This is a difficult period for her, but also for everyone who works and interacts with her.”
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Pieters, who raced with SD Worx, was left in a coma after injuring her head in a crash during a training ride with the Dutch national track team in Spain in December 2021. Since waking from her coma in April last year, she has been undergoing therapy and moved to a specialist brain injury center last August.
As a result of the injury to her head, Pieters has been learning to walk and talk again, and she walked for the first time since the crash in October. While there has been some progress, and she has even been able to ride an adapted bike outside, it is not known how much Pieters will be able to recover.
“Pieters can now answer with a clear yes and no, but unfortunately it is not yet possible to really have a conversation in sentences,” the SD Worx website said. “She mainly communicates with facial expressions. Now there will be waited [sic] until the medication to be adjusted in such a way that she regains the energy and motivation so that she can work on the next steps of her rehabilitation.
“Pieters still prefers to get on her bicycle and go for a ride outside, rather than sitting on an indoor bike in the gym. The Amy Pieters foundation has purchased an adapted bicycle for her, as well as a system to warn in the event of an epileptic attack. This is so that she can also do cycling as an exercise at home during the weekends.”
