Stuart O'Grady released from hospital in Spain

• Thursday, 12 November 2009
• Andrew Canning
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Stuart O'Grady

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Stuart O'Grady was released from a Spanish hospital yesterday after collapsing following a motorcycle ride at the Valencia MotoGP circuit on Sunday.



The Australian collapsed and suffered a seizure soon after the ride and doctors have given him the all clear yesterday after a series of medical tests including an MRI scan.

O'Grady was attacked in Toulouse in France in 2000 and sustained a head trauma, two months after which he suffered a focal seizure. It is believed the incident in Valencia may have been related to the attack.



"When the ride finished of course I could feel my heart rate soaring, my blood pressure rising, but I didn't give it much more thought," O'Grady said of the incident.

"But then I started having blotchy vision and 20 minutes later I had a seizure and collapsed.



"It was possibly the extreme 'hyper tension' or maybe an old scar on my brain from one of my previous crashes but there's no use speculating or guessing, it's happened and that's that".



Prior to the ride O'Grady underwent medical checks and was cleared to participate yet has had more than his fair share of injuries during his career.

The Australian has broken numerous bones, been treated for an abnormally high heartbeat and had surgery to repair a blocked artery. In 2007 a crash during the Tour de France left him with five broken ribs, a broken shoulder and a punctured lung and earlier this year, he was sidelined due to injuries sustained in a crash during Milan-San Remo.


"It takes more than one lap to get rid of me," O'Grady added defiantly.