At the request of Grégoire de Mevius, currently convalescing,
and of his family, and with the agreement of Team Dessoude, this
post-surgical report has been published.
On January 17th in the early afternoon, Grégoire de Mevius
underwent surgery at the Clinique Saint Luc de Bouges (Namur). The
Nissan driver had suffered an accident a week earlier, during the
10th stage (Atar-Atar) of the 2005 Dakar. The medical service of
the organization had initially taken care of him, and he was
repatriated to Belgium three days later, with an initial diagnosis
of two broken ribs.
After more in-depth examinations on his arrival at the Clinique
Saint Luc on the Sunday evening, it was noted that, as well as the
initial injuries noted after the accident, he was suffering from
two fractured cervical vertebras, which needed rapid intervention.
The operation took place on Monday, and took just over an hour.
This allowed a metal plate to be applied to the 5th cervical
vertebra, which had an unstable fracture.
Louis Loodvoet (Doctor, head of orthopedic surgery at the Clinique
Saint Luc) : «First and foremost, I would like to stress that at no
point was Mr de Mevius' life in danger, and that he benefited from
favorable circumstances, considering the cervical fractures from
which he was suffering. His post-operative condition is
satisfactory.
However, he will have to undergo between six weeks and three months
of convalescence. Concerning his left shoulder, which is still
suffering from a lack of movement, there are, with all the usual
provisos, good hopes of a full recovery. In this case, and at the
end of his recovery period, Mr de Mevius should be able, from a
medical point of view, to live a normal life.
Team Nissan France Dessoude wishes Grégoire a speedy recovery, and
hopes to see him back in the team as quickly as possible.
