January 29, 2007 – This weekend, Vanessa Quin, 30, New Zealand’s top female DH mountain biker, has broken her neck for the second time in a crash during seeding runs at the National MTB Championships in Nelson, NZl, reports the Nelson Mail. Luckily Quin escaped paralysis.

The mishap occurred half-way through her run, when she flew over the handlebars. In the tumble, Quin fractured her C2 vertebra, but she was able to walk off the course with the help of a marshall.

She previously fractured a bone in her neck in 2002 in a velodrome crash. The 2004 World DH Champion realizes how lucky she is. She told the Nelson Mail: “Like I’ve said in the past – you can’t live your life in cotton wool. I’ll take this one day by day, and I’m just feeling very, very lucky.” Quin also suffered a cracked sternum and hand injuries.

She will remain in a metal brace for up to 10 weeks and will be off the bike for six months, but she insists the accident hasn’t affected her passion for the sport.