Bobsleigh crash victim allowed to make journey home

Miss Harrison was set to travel to the UK yesterday where she will undergo further tests before being allowed to return to training.

The 29-year-old, who is originally from Barnsley, and team-mate Serita Shone were hurt in a crash last week during a training run for the British Championships in Winterberg.

Miss Shone, 22, a Leeds Metropolitan University graduate who only joined the bobsleigh team last month, is set to undergo more surgery tomorrow.

Dutch athletes who won prize money at last week’s British Championships have donated it to Miss Shone to help pay for an iPad to keep her in contact with family and friends.

Her British team-mates have signed a Union flag and her race suit to hang on the wall in the hospital.

British Bobsleigh performance director Gary Anderson said: “This was a fantastic gesture by all the athletes and shows the sportsmanship that exists in our sport. I would like to thank our friends from the Netherlands.

“We have been told by the consultants at the hospital that Serita will have further surgery on Tuesday. She is now in a comfortable condition and understanding of what is happening.”

Bobsleigh coach Lee Johnston added: “This past week has been shadowed by the unfortunate accident that resulted in two of our athletes being injured.

“In 17 years in the sport this is one of the worse injuries I have seen, predominantly it is a safe sport, crashes happen but not normally not on this scale. We have to accept that it is the nature of an extreme sport especially when you combine exceptional athletic ability.”

Both women were previously heptathletes before becoming members of the British bobsleigh team.

Miss Harrison is also a Leeds University graduate and trains at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.