“There were days when I thought I just cannot go on.
“I think it was some of the medication they gave me the second time I went and, that was about a week after, [it] just didn't agree with me. So I was vomiting.
“And if you can imagine when you vomit you have that neck kind of like gag reflex. But if you imagine your neck can't do the move because you've got these screws screwed into your head. So I'm trying to throw up, but it's putting pressure on my head. The screws are digging into my skull. It wasn't nice.”
That’s Tim Don explaining his experience of having the Halo device bolted to his head after he broke his neck in Hawaii. It came just months after he smashed the Ironman world record by four minutes in Brazil. Then aged 39 he completed the 3.8-kilometre swim, 180km bike and 42.2km run in just 7 hours 40 minutes 23 seconds.
But in October 2017 disaster struck. While training on his bike he was hit by a truck. Don spoke to the Best in the World with Richard Parr podcast having just had the Halo device removed after three months.
“It's kind of like a plaster cast for your neck so you really can't move it,” the professional triathlete said. “So that was pretty aggressive but now that's off I don't actually have to wear a neck collar at all now, so now it's a case of trying to improve the range of my neck movements, obviously the muscles wore away in my neck and also just the mobility of the different vertebrae.”
Don broke his C2 vertebra, referred to as the Hangman’s fracture, like that found by someone who has died by hanging. His doctor laid out three options.
“He said, most people go for the fusion where it's C2 that I broke, they fuse it with C1 but that really would limit later in life and even immediately, the movement left and right by up to 50%,” Don explained. “But it's the quickest because once you've had the operation, the bone is fused together with these two metal rods or titanium rods. And within a couple of weeks, you're good to go.
“The other one was just a soft neck collar, which is good, but you still can move your head. So again, there's chances that the bone could be displaced or it takes longer, the recovery won't be as smooth.
“And then the one that not many people go for is the Halo, which is where they screw the bolts in. But he said if you have that there is a 90% chance of 100% recovery with your neck function. And for me, as a professional athlete, as a young dad with two young children who I want to go and play football with my son and go swimming with my daughter, I wanted to have the best quality of life going forward. Three months of hell for hopefully a fully functioning neck going forward.”
Living in Boulder, Colorado it didn’t take long for the British triathlete to get back on the bike.
“I think it was about just over three weeks and a couple of days. I did five minutes and I did some exercises. The initial pain of everything had subsided and I was just going mad because I couldn't do anything. I mean I couldn't put socks on. My wife had to do it. I couldn't shower. I was sleeping in a chair. I really couldn't move because the Halo brace comes right down to in line with my belly button. So you really are immobile. So yeah, for me, that was my outlet, I guess of stress frustration, was going to the gym and doing some little cycling and doing some exercises in my lower body and my arms.”
Don grew up in Hounslow in south-west London. The son of former English Premier League football referee Philip Don, he used to run at the same athletics club as 4-time Olympic gold medalist Mo Farah.
Don admires Ethiopian long-distance legend Haile Gebrselassie, for his Olympic and World championships feats and for always appearing smiley and happy. That positivity has rubbed off on Don. Just months after his crash he was already planning on competing in the Boston Marathon in April 2018.
“I've only ever done a marathon in an Iron Man. So I've done one standalone marathon and that was on a treadmill in Las Vegas, at the Consumer Electronics Show for a sponsor. So this will be my first proper marathon. I'm not going to break any records or set the world on fire. But for me, I'm a very competitive person. And I just felt I really needed a goal, something to focus on and I realised that swimming is the hardest thing for me right now because I really can't turn my head to breathe. So I realised I won't be doing a triathlon until the end of June, early July. But that was too long for me to wait. So I thought of a challenge that I could do and the opportunity came up that I could run Boston.
“It's obviously very iconic. It's one of the fastest, well-supported marathons in the world. So yeah, for me, if the stars are aligned, it will be about six months after I broke my neck. So if I can run a 2:50 I'll be happy with that. Normally, I run a bit quicker than that in an Iron Man but as I say, it's a stepping stone to doing a full Ironman later in the year and my training so far is going okay. I've now run 10 days where I can actually run outside, before then I had to Aqua jog in the swimming pool. And then I would have to use an AlterG treadmill, one of the anti-gravity treadmills and slowly we've progressed that and actually, it was the end of February when I got the all clear from my doctor that I can run outside because I was also running with my neck collar on. But now I don't have to wear the neck collar at all. So we're moving forward now.”
Six months and five days after his being hit by a truck, Tim Don completed the Boston Marathon with a time of 2 hours and 49 minutes.
You can listen to Tim’s full interview on the Best in the World with Richard Parr podcast on Apple and Spotify.
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On the ‘Best In the World’ Podcast, Richard Parr talks to sports stars who have reached the pinnacle.
World Champions, Olympic Champions, World Record Holders & World Number Ones.
The show reveals what these athletes do differently from the rest of us to be the best. This includes training techniques, nutrition, relationships, sacrifices, mental health, time management, home environment and much more.
Richard wants to know what they do so we can improve our own lives.
Connect with Richard on social media @richard_parr.