Handling Handlebars—and Life with Matt and Cherie Chan

On July 4, Matt Chan had a serious accident but lived to lift again.

While on a mountain-bike ride with his wife, Cherie, in Boulder, Colorado, Matt fell and landed on his handlebars, resulting in an emergency flight and surgery to repair injuries to several arteries and veins.

“Mountain biking at high speeds, down rocky descents, with full pads and everything like that is scary looking,” Matt says. “That is not what I was doing.”

He adds: “I was on a mellow path … it was just an accident.”

Initially, Matt and Cherie feared Matt had severed his femoral artery, which can be life threatening.

“Had it been even a fraction over … (Matt) wouldn’t be with us,” Cherie says.

She adds: “It’s the most vulnerable I’ve ever seen my husband before.”

The incident suddenly highlighted to Matt’s mother why her son does CrossFit and prepares to overcome anything life throws at him.

“I spend my life teaching people that exact lesson, and I only hope that they get it before they go through something like Matt just did,” Cherie says.

Chan, a veteran CrossFit Games competitor, shuffles about with a walker in the video but will be training to compete once again in 2015.

Video by Ian Wittenber.

7min 39sec

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