The fiancee of Team GB and Wales decathlete Ben Gregory has revealed he has taken his first breaths without assistance since fracturing his skull in a horrific bike crash last month.
The Welsh record holder suffered multiple brain haemorrhages, and a fractured skull and neck after he was hit by a car when out cycling. Partner Naomi Heffernan revealed at the time: "Ben was in a serious bike accident. He has a fractured skull, neck and multiple haemorrhages to his brain. He’s in a coma and on life support.”
Heffernan has now been able to provide a more positive update, with the athlete able to begin the process of coming out of his coma. However, she's also warned that Gregory, 31, will have "no memory" of his family and will have to "learn how to move again, obey commands, re-learn how to think and how to talk and walk."
She said on Instagram "The doctors said we are now out of the storm but what has seemed like the hardest two weeks of our lives are about to get harder. But I'm certain of this, Ben would never want us to doubt him, ever."
And Heffernan seemed under no illusions about the difficult journey which lies ahead: "This is going to the hardest thing he's ever had to go through. Me too," she continued.
"But with his incredible army behind him and Ben's love for life and his drive I know he's going to defy all the odds, he's going to surprise every doctor and nurse and he's going to get through this in a way that they've never seen before.
And hearteningly, she pledged her husband-to-be would return a better version of himself, concluding her post with "Ben will never be the Ben you once knew but he will be an even better version, Ben 2.0 with even more strength and light than any of us can imagine."
Gregory has competed in three Commonwealth Games events, and also works as a personal trainer. In October 2020 he was fortunate to escape injury in another bike incident.
He collided with a car in London but emerged from the incident unscathed. Heffernan's post has prompted a host of well-wishes for the decathlete.
