According to Cycling Australia Stuart O’Grady has been cleared to leave the hospital on Wednesday following a seizure that was caused by a ‘hot lap’ of the Valencia MotoGP circuit on Sunday.
The former Paris-Roubaix winner collapsed soon after the high speed thrashing around the track and believes the seizure was triggered by the stress on his body during the ride.
After an MRI and a series of medical tests, doctors have given him the all clear to head home.
“When the ride finished of course I could feel my heart rate soaring, my blood pressure rising, but I didn’t give it much more thought,” said O’Grady.
“But then I started having blotchy vision and 20 minutes later I had a seizure and collapsed.
“It was possibly the extreme ‘hyper tension’ or maybe an old scar on my brain from one of my previous crashes but there’s no use speculating or guessing, it’s happened and that’s that.”
Despite his unfortunate trip to the hospital, O’Grady said his trip around the circuit piloted by American motorcycling legend Rany Mamola was the thrill of a lifetime.
“The ride around the Valencia circuit was unbelievable. I’ve jumped out of planes, been in a Russian fighter jet, a V8 Supercar, the works, but the twin seater Ducati blows them all out of the water!
“I have never come close to the experience of hanging on for your life.
“The braking on those bikes had my feet coming off the rear pegs, and my butt way off the seat, the acceleration meant I needed my full strength to hang onto the machine and not get flicked out onto the track in front of 90,000 fans,” he explained.
“It was something I will never forget and would do again tomorrow if my body could handle it.”
At 36 O’Grady isn’t showing any signs of slowing down, and he views this latest incident as a small bump in the road.
“It takes more than one lap to get rid of me,” said O’Grady.