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Sakakibara on the mend after horror crash

3 minute read

Australian BMX talent Kai Sakakibara is making encouraging progress six months after a horror crash left him in a coma with bleeding on the brain.

Kai Sakakibara's family admit they weren't sure he'd see his 24th birthday this month.

But six months on from a horror BMX crash that left him in a coma, he's been able to walk small distances and even play a modified version of table tennis.

The Tokyo-bound cyclist was in hospital for eight weeks after the crash before moving to a rehabilitation centre in April to begin the long road back.

Today Sakakibara is able to speak, walk small distances with assistance and even help his sister and Olympic hopeful Saya in her own training.

"Fourteen weeks after the crash Kai was finally able to stand-up for the first time with assistance," the family's statement read.

"This was a major step for us and it gave us hope that he might be able to walk again."

"There was a time when we were not sure he would see his next birthday at all."

Sakakibara lost 20kg while in hospital and has had to re-learn most things due to his short-term memory loss.

But last week he managed to hit the table-tennis ball over the net 284 times.

"Kai loves the challenge and it's great to be able to relax and have some fun," the statement read.

"(It's) a long process and we're still not sure what the end game will look like ... one step at a time, one moment at a time ... let's go."

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