Santosh was resuscitated by co-riders before airlifted to a Riyad hospital
By David Bodapati
Bengaluru, 7 Jan 2021: Ace Indian rider and a 7-time veteran of Dakar, CS Santosh of Hero MotoSports Factory Rally Team, who suffered a crash in Stage 4 after three Waypoints and about 130km into the stage, at around 2.15 IST on Wednesday, was airlifted to a hospital in Riyadh after “he was resuscitated by fellow Dutch and Italian riders” and the crash seems to be more serious than was stated yesterday according to South African and Dutch “Media reports”.
TimesLive, South Africa’s second biggest news website said quoting rallymaniacs.com, a Dutch website:
“Husqvarna’s Dutch rider Paul Spierings told the rallymaniacs.com website that he and Italian Maurizio Gerini had managed to resuscitate Santosh before the emergency helicopter arrived.
“When the helicopter arrived after 15 minutes, I luckily felt a pulse again. That was a huge relief,” Spierings said.
“I was able to act well because I knew what to do, but I had never resuscitated anyone in real life.”
However, sources told said that the Bengaluru-based 37-year rider is induced into a coma under medical observation for conducting investigations to rule out any serious issues, that is normally done for head injuries in a high-speed crash. Hero MotoCorp, however, is yet to reply to the email query of this reporter. The 24-hour observation has ended and a statement from the hospital is expected anytime tonight.
Last year, Hero MotoSport Rally team’s Portuguese rider Paulo Goncalves, suffered a tragic fall and lost his life in the seventh stage and the team withdrew from the Dakar Rally 2020. The stage is said to be the same physical stage but on the reverse run.
Joaquim Rodrigues (Competitor No. 27) said, “First of all, my thoughts go out to our brother Santosh and I wish him a speedy recovery. I know that he will pull through to come back stronger. Today was a very tough stage for me as this was where the tragic incident happened last year. It brought back a lot of painful memories for me and I couldn’t sleep all night. I had a nervous start to the stage but as I started to ride, I started to get into a rhythm and my navigation was perfect. I believe it was Paulo who was navigating for me today and I am so happy to know that feeling.”
A mixed day for Hero MotoSports in Stage 4, an earlier Hero statement said:
Earlier in a statement on Wednesday , Hero MotoCorp said, “On a positive note, Joaquim Rodrigues set a blazing pace today to finish Stage 4 at the 6th position. On a somber note, Indian ace CS Santosh suffered a crash today and had to forfeit the stage. His 2021 Dakar campaign has come to an unfortunate, premature end.
The report went on to say: “On a somber note, Indian ace CS Santosh suffered a crash today and had to forfeit the stage. He was immediately attended to by the on-ground medical team and was found to be stable. For a thorough evaluation and to provide him with the best possible medical care, he has been shifted to a hospital in Riyadh. His 2021 Dakar campaign has come to an unfortunate, premature end.”
