Segundo Navarrete: The bike was my therapy to continue living

Run over during wheelchair training while preparing his performance for Cycling tour of Ecuador from 2022, Carchense Segundo Navarrete was about to leave cyclingeven his life was threatened, but he returned this year after a a painful process that had the bicycle as an “impulse” going forward.

In October last year, Navarrete was hit by a trailer while training in Machachi (Pichincha) so he had to have an emergency operation, was the doctor’s diagnosis confirmation of rib fractures and kidney losswhile on the sports front it was said that he would no longer compete.

Ecuadorian cyclist Segundo Navarrete was run over during training

The accident left serious injuries, “but The most harmful thing is always the head, psychological question, you’re trying to understand what’s going to happen with your life, getting up from it affects, but we were mentally strong. Everything was very painful, I came back from scratch, from learning to walk again, almost like a child“It was very complex, but it’s over and now we want to enjoy this race,” said Navarrete.

His Returning to the Vuelta al Ecuador is a satisfying point in an extensive recovery process and arrives with “many expectations” to repeat several podiums achieved in his sports career.

“If there was no urge to get back on the bike, I would have given up, the bike was therapy for me to continue livingThat’s why I’m happy, personally very calm, to be back doing what I love, the goals are big, we trained quite well. In the race we will work day by day to see the reactions of the other teams and how far we can fight,” said Navarrete.

What did the traffic accident look like? Carchense is grateful to those who extended a hand of solidarity, but he regrets that he had “friends” who left during those hard times.

“In this case, everything depends on experience The good thing was meeting people who can really be defined as friends.but there are also those others who leave you and go away in misfortune, That’s why this race goes to those who helped me emotionally, financially, the people who saw my pain in my daily recovery, of which there were many, I’m here because of them, that’s why this race is for them.“, said the four-time national champion in time trial.

Navarrete joins the Saitel team, from Imbabura, “a roster that mixes youth and experience. As for me, I come to work on everything, I want to help the group, and then we will see how we will be in the classification. I want to fight in the race, let’s hope that I will have the legs and luck that I won’t have any accidents on the road,” he pointed out.

But On you aim at the standand although he admits that “there are teams that come to fight with the best, while ours is a humble team, this group is brave and fighting. I always fought in the Vuelta, I was on several podiumsmy training for the race was good, so We are aiming for the podium this year as well“, he concluded. (D)