We've been quiet for a few days, taking in what happened on Sunday afternoon.
We went up the hill to Haradiatika to see the third (and most likely final) annual cart race, organised by Vlicho Yacht Club. We were supporting Laurie and Peter, who both had carts, and there were several other entries we recognised from our brief time as locals. The My Lefkada news site sponsored the event, and their video provides a good flavour of the happy start to the day.
Forgive me for not uploading the many photos and videos I took. Read on to find out why.
All went well until the final event of the day, the first in which the carts were racing together. Sara and I witnessed a horrific accident at the start. A "pusher" was tripped by a cart, and run over by another, resulting in a nasty head and spinal injury. At the current time, the prognosis is awful - severe paralysis would be a good outcome. We've supplied our video of the accident to the local police.
In a separate event, at the bottom of the track, a cart flipped over and one of the occupants was upside down with no roll bar until it stopped. Apparently he has required facial plastic surgery, but will walk again.
As well as the two injured, our thoughts are with Ruari and the rest of the staff at VYC. They are understandably distraught. Safety was the emphasised as the only priority at the pre-race briefings, and they put in a lot of preparation. Without the accidents, the event would have been a triumph, bringing together the local Greek and ex-pat communities in equal measure.
We went up the hill to Haradiatika to see the third (and most likely final) annual cart race, organised by Vlicho Yacht Club. We were supporting Laurie and Peter, who both had carts, and there were several other entries we recognised from our brief time as locals. The My Lefkada news site sponsored the event, and their video provides a good flavour of the happy start to the day.
Forgive me for not uploading the many photos and videos I took. Read on to find out why.
All went well until the final event of the day, the first in which the carts were racing together. Sara and I witnessed a horrific accident at the start. A "pusher" was tripped by a cart, and run over by another, resulting in a nasty head and spinal injury. At the current time, the prognosis is awful - severe paralysis would be a good outcome. We've supplied our video of the accident to the local police.
In a separate event, at the bottom of the track, a cart flipped over and one of the occupants was upside down with no roll bar until it stopped. Apparently he has required facial plastic surgery, but will walk again.
As well as the two injured, our thoughts are with Ruari and the rest of the staff at VYC. They are understandably distraught. Safety was the emphasised as the only priority at the pre-race briefings, and they put in a lot of preparation. Without the accidents, the event would have been a triumph, bringing together the local Greek and ex-pat communities in equal measure.
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