Spring relives crash horror
FORMER Sunshine Coast bobsledder Chris Spring has revealed the mental anguish he felt following his team's horror crash earlier in the year.
Spring, 28, was piloting the Canada Two four-man sled when it smashed into a wall at the World Cup round of Altenberg in Germany in January.
Spring and teammates Bill Thomas and Graeme Rinholm were all hospitalised for extended lengths of time as a result of the accident.
In an interview with Canadian magazine SportsNet, he revealed that during his eight-day hospital stay, he lay awake at night blaming himself for his friends' fates.
"I felt like I inflicted all this pain and damage on to people, on to my friends," Spring said.
"Lying wide awake in that bed by myself every night - I went to some dark places."
Spring suffered horrific injuries during the accident, including a busted nose and having his skin shredded open by a piece of wood the size of a kitchen knife imbedded in his back.
The wound was so bad that medics were able to see his exposed pelvis bone and spine.
Initially Spring did not realise the extent of the damage until he was tended to by a member of the Monaco support staff who was also a friend. Spring said the look on his face reinforced the severity of the situation.
At the time of the crash Spring's Canada Two team was ranked top 10 in the world and Spring initially believed he would quit the sport.
"There's no chance I'm bobsledding again, that's for sure," he said at the time.
Spring represented Australia at the 2010 Winter Olympics before a lack of funding prompted him to defect to the Canadian team.
Spring has since made a full recovery and returned to the track last month.
Despite fearing he would suffer a case of the yips, he said he had felt few effects on his performance.
"I was really afraid I'd get back in the driver's seat and not know what to do," Spring said.
"Or I would get halfway down the track and start freaking out."
