"My skull fracture saved my life" - Tom Boonen opens up about life-threatening crash in Abu Dhabi in 2015

Tom Boonen is remembered as a four-time winner of Paris-Roubaix, three-time Flanders, World champion from 2005, and the list goes on... But in 2015 all cycling fans feared for the Belgian's life after a terrifying crash in Abu Dhabi with pictures showing Boonen bleeding from his head.

Boonen was able to return to top shape for Paris-Roubaix 2016, just six months later, eventually losing to Mathew Hayman in one of the greatest upsets in cycling history. Back to his crash, it didn't go without consequences as Boonen partially lost hearing, which was replaced by persistent buzzing, he tells Humo.

"In October 2015, I had a bad fall during the second stage of the Abu Dhabi Tour. A piece of rebar hit Theo Bos’s front wheel. I had to swerve, but his handlebars hit my front wheel. I was catapulted off my bike and fell on the side of my head. My helmet was knocked off, so the impact landed almost entirely on my temple. I was immediately unconscious and bleeding from my ear. At first, bystanders feared the worst – my Polish teammate Lukasz Wisniowski reportedly cried. Theo Bos also burst into tears, convinced that I was lying dead on the asphalt."

"After a few minutes I regained consciousness twice and started running like crazy - a flight response of my body - and then passed out again. The third time I woke up I was strapped into the ambulance. I had a brain hemorrhage, a concussion and a six-inch fracture in my skull. I don't remember anything from that day, everything was told to me later."

Boonen spent two weeks in intensive care. For a while, there were fears for his life. "But my skull fracture saved my life: because it ran through my ear, the blood could escape and no pressure built up on my brain. As a result, I had no permanent brain damage and I recovered quickly. My hearing turned out to be affected, but that saved me in a way: otherwise I wouldn’t be here anymore."