After recovering from an accident that put his life on the line, Newcastle’s Gavin Dixon is as strong as he’s ever been.
In September 2020, the cyclist was competing in a race at the Broadmeadow Criterium Track when he flipped off his bike and crushed the right side of his body.
“It was 50 laps and it was the last bend of the last lap and I was thinking I had a chance to win,” Gavin said.
“But, I lost control of the bike and flipped onto my right side and I broke my collarbone, shoulder blade and seven ribs.
“Three of those ribs I broke in two places and I punctured my lung and severely damaged my right hand on the asphalt.”
What followed the incident was a journey he’ll never forget.
“I didn’t have any idea what would happen because this was a life-threatening accident mainly because I punctured my lung,” he explained.
“One of the guys that I was racing against is a doctor, so he kind of looked after me immediately after the accident and he told me about four months later that, [at the time], he was concerned that I might not survive.”
After the accident, Gavin was transported to the John Hunter Hospital where he was put in the care of director of trauma care and surgeon Professor Zsolt Balogh.
Across a few surgeries, Professor Balogh successfully repaired the cyclist’s bones while respecting his wishes to not cut through muscle, to preserve upper body strength for his racing.
After performing the procedures, about 13 hours worth of surgery, Professor Balogh says Gavin’s made an incredible recovery.
“I’m pretty optimistic and I know what we are doing but he’s really outperformed all of my expectations,” he said.
“It’s amazing, this is what we dream about and this is why we are doing what we are doing.
“Most of our patients I would say do well considering the extent of their injuries but as somebody who is getting almost fitter and even more motivated than before that is quite pleasing.”
He adds the credit cannot lie totally with him.
“I would like to acknowledge the whole team around John Hunter Hospital and the entire trauma service and all other specialties who are working together for the ultimate care of people like Gavin because this is not just one surgeon’s job this is really complex teamwork,” he said.
After working at the hospital for almost 17 years, Professor Balogh has saved an incredible amount of lives.
The humble medical professional is also a researcher at the University of Newcastle, which has earned him an exciting title.
For two consecutive years, The Australian named him as the country’s top emergency medicine researcher.
When asked about Professor Balogh, Gavin was quick to sing his praises.
“I have this expression: ‘if Humpty Dumpty had a great fall and all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty back together again they should have called Professor Balogh because he would have put Humpty back together again’.
“I tried to give him a gift several times and he just wouldn’t take anything at all, so all I can say is thank you.
“I was very lucky.”
After his surgery, Gavin went to physiotherapy to begin the recovery process.
In the early days it was a painful experience but slowly he started to show improvements.
“Every day, sometimes twice a day, it was the most excruciatingly painful process but after three months my physiotherapist said you can get back on your bike.”
And, that is exactly what he did.
Despite a tiny bit of worry, within two days of getting the all clear Gavin was racing.
“You cannot live in fear, that’s not living, that’s existing,” he said.
“So I thought you need to face up to it, jump on the bike and go as hard as you can.”
Fast forward to now and you would not know that Gavin was involved in a life-threatening accident just over 12 months ago.
The father-of-two reunited with Professor Balogh on Wednesday to tell him all about a recent victory.
In February, at the NSW Masters Track Championships Gavin took out the bronze medal for his age category in the two-kilometre pursuit event.
Gavin receiving his medal at the NSW Masters Track Championships.
He says he feels just as good as he did before the crash.
“To me, I feel exactly the same as I was before the accident, I mean I’ve got lots of plates and lots of things bolted into me but I feel 100%,” Gavin told Newcastle Weekly.
Moving forward, Gavin plans on entering the next state championship event in March and hopes to represent Australia on a national level.
“I am hoping that I will be good enough,” he said.
“It would be amazing, I have never done a national race because I never thought I was good enough but I think if you are going to do something then give it 100%.”
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