Paralympics GB star George Peasgood in hospital with brain injury after 'freak accident'

A Paralympics GB cycling and triathlon star is being treated in hospital after suffering a brain injury in a crash while riding.

George Peasgood, 27, sustained severe injuries when he came off his bike in a "freak accident" on Saturday, said his partner Frankie Hall on social media.

The paralympian, originally from Saffron Walden in Essex, won Para-triathlon silver and Para-cycling bronze for Great Britain at the Tokyo Paralympics last summer.

He is now having treatment in a neurological critical care unit for a diffuse axonal injury - an injury caused when the brain suffers a traumatic or sudden movement within the skull.

Ms Hall said she would be at the hospital "for the foreseeable future" to help her partner with what she said would be a "long recovery journey".

She said: "To all of our friends, please know your support means the world to me, and will to do him too.

"He is a fighter, I’ve never known anyone as strong as George and I know, when it’s ready, he will pull through."

Ms Hall thanked the doctors from the Herts and Essex Air Ambulance crew, police and parmedics who "ensured that George was in safe hands within minutes of the incident".

She added: "We do not have any further information at this stage, we will know more once he regains consciousness, but we appreciate your respect and privacy at this time."

Peasgood won medals in two sports in three days at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, winning silver in the men’s individual PTS5 Triathlon before taking a bronze in the C4 cycling road time trial just two days.

He suffered a traumatic injury to his left leg and ankle when he was two and a half years old, and underwent several reconstructive surgeries during childhood.

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