In part 1 of this 3-part interview with injured Belgian skater Lieve Lissens,
she describes the circumstances of her fall
and what the skating conditions were like that day.
Interview Part 1
Kathie Fry:
Lieve, thank you so much for agreeing to share
the details of your injury with other skaters.
Lieve Lissens:
You are welcome Kathie.
I hope some skaters will be interested in my story.
Kathie:
I guess the best place to start is at the beginning.
When and where did the accident take place?
Lieve:
It happened on May 5, 2003 at the skating track
in Tienen, Belgium. That is where I do most of my training.
Kathie:
Is Tienen a banked track or a flat track?
Lieve:
It's a banked track.
Kathie:
What were you doing at the time of the accident?
How many skaters were on the track and what was the weather like?
Lieve:
I was cooling down from a training session when I fell.
I think there were about seven skaters on the track that day,
and the weather was cloudy, but dry.
Kathie:
Do you know what caused you to fall?
Did you collide with another skater?
Lieve:
No, it was a stupid crash, all by myself.
I was cooling down from a training session
and I just lost my balance in the corner of the track.
Kathie:
You were skating around a corner?
Were you crossing over when you fell?
Lieve:
No, I was not crossing over. I guess I was skating
too close to the border
of the track. I was skating very slowly and I fell
when I was coming out of the corner.
We have a plastic border in the inner corner of our track, and I
think I might have skated against it. You can see the border of the track
here:
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Photo showing the border of the Tienen track.
Kathie:
So you lost your balance because you
skated against the border of the track?
Lieve:
Well, I know for sure that I was skating
too close to the border when I fell.
Kathie:
What was the actual fall like? Can you describe it
for us?
Lieve:
First I lost my balance on my left side. I did a quick step
to the right, but then I lost my balance again and fell down
backwards. I tried to break my fall with my hand
and that's how I injured my arm. I also hit my head hard when I fell,
and my neck started hurting a few days later.
Kathie:
Did you injure any other part of your body
besides your hand and your head? Were
your shoulders, knees, and elbows injured during the fall?
Lieve:
No, I only hurt my head and my hand.
Kathie
Did you realize immediately how badly you were injured?
Lieve:
Yes, I knew it was bad, because a few minutes after
I fell, my wrist expanded to twice its normal size.
When I tried to move my fingers and my wrist I could move them a little bit, but
it hurt a lot when I tried. I also thought my hand was not in the right place,
and it felt like things were moving inside my arm and my hand.
Kathie:
Eeeww!! Moving inside? Like things were broken in there?
Lieve:
Yes, it was really bad. I knew I had to go to the hospital immediately.
Kathie:
Were you in a lot of pain at that point?
Lieve:
Yes, there was a lot of pain, and I was starting to feel dizzy,
so one of the other skaters took me to the hospital immediately.
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More of This Interview
In
Part 2 of This Interview,
Lieve describes what happened at the hospital,
including the diagnosis of her injury and the operation
to repair the damage to her arm.
Related Links
Lieve Lissens Bio and Photo
More About Skating in Belgium
More About Skating Injuries
Introduction to Skating Disciplines
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