Andrew and Katie Houlihan have no regrets, even after four months of dealing with fractures, pain and operations since a serious motorcycle accident in Greece.
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We just look at (the crash) that it was an adventure we hadn't planned on, but it happened and we made the most of it
- Katie Houlihan
The Albury couple spent nearly a month in a Greek hospital when Mr Houlihan was seriously injured in late May while competing in the Hellas Rally Raid.
He still faces plenty of rehabilitation and possibly more surgery, but the Houlihans have already planned a return to rally racing.
“We’re back again next year,” Mr Houlihan said.
“This was our first event over there, just to see where it all led.
“The accident was on the last day of the race but up until then, it was amazing, it’s opened up a whole new world for us.”
“We just look at (the crash) that it was an adventure we hadn’t planned on, but it happened and we made the most of it,” Mrs Houlihan added.
“Out of a bit of bad comes a lot of good.”
Well, perhaps more than a bit as Mr Houlihan’s injuries created a long list.
“Fractured neck, fractured scapula, fractured collarbone, fractured nose, fractured foot, fractured hand, nine broken ribs, punctured lung, head trauma,” he said.
“We didn’t let too many people know the full extent,” his wife admitted.
Waiting at the rally finish line, Mrs Houlihan was told of the accident, later revealed to be a collision with another rider who was doubling back after taking a wrong turn.
She came across the loaded ambulance, which didn’t stop, while heading to the scene.
“One of our riders who was in the team with Andrew was riding behind the ambulance, he stayed with Andrew the whole time,” she said, wincing over the memories.
“He wanted to follow the ambulance and I told him to go back and finish the race, Andrew wouldn’t want him following him out.”
Told the wrong hospital at first, it was three hours before Mrs Houlihan saw her husband and realised he was seriously hurt.
The rider himself remembers nothing of the accident and remained unconscious for about two hours.
“I just woke up with two guys pinning me down and another guy cutting a hole in my chest to put the tube in,” Mr Houlihan said.
“Any procedure I had done over there, there was no anaesthetic, no warning, two people would come and hold you down.”
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While praising all the medical staff, the Houlihans said the hospital conditions were “pretty ordinary”.
“Katie was probably the primary carer for me for the four weeks because of the limited resources in the hospital,” Mr Houlihan said.
“There was no heating, no cooling, no cleaning, no clean sheets. You had to supply your own water, you had to buy your own splints.”
Mrs Houlihan slept on a chair at the end of a hospital bed for 32 nights straight while the patient barely slept at all owing to the pain.
Assistance came from people like family members, a private nurse who spoke English and a medical team in Australia that liaised with their Greek counterparts until Mr Houlihan could be evacuated to Melbourne.
“The people that we met, amazing, we still keep in contact every day,” Mrs Houlihan said.
Mr Houlihan also speaks regularly to the other rider in his crash, who was injured as well, though less severely.
Back in Australia, the complexity of so many fractures left some doctors unsure of how to proceed.
“They were just hesitant, with the extent of the injuries,” Mr Houlihan said.
The couple returned to Albury in late June and Mr Houlihan underwent surgery on his shoulder four weeks ago.
He is now waiting to see if a hand operation is needed.
There’s still pain but “I’ve just got used to it”.
Accepting crashes as “part and parcel” of racing, Mr Houlihan hopes to begin riding again in December/January, with the support of his wife and their two teenage children.
Having been a motocross racer for 20 years, the Greek event was his first foray into rally racing.
“Thought it would be less punishing on the body,” Mrs Houlihan noted with a laugh.
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