Finnoff was at the Olympic Village when messages arrived. They had to create an airway for him.вЂ™ And then your dadвЂ™s like: вЂWait, theyвЂ™re calling back. вЂњI remember your dad calling me, Connor, and he had gotten a call from somebody on site there,вЂќ Gruninger said, recounting part of the episode that Fields had not heard. The range of memory loss he had, from before the accident until days later, places his traumatic brain injury in the category of вЂњmoderate.вЂќ But moderate best describes an injury when it happens to someone else. There were multiple contusions and axonal injuries - the shearing, or tearing, of the nerve fibers - scattered throughout the brain, from the tip of the right frontal lobe to the deep recesses of the corpus callosum. The official diagnosis was subarachnoid hemorrhage and subdural hematoma - bleeding and the pooling of blood on the surface of the brain. There was further delay because of uncertainty over which hospital would take him.ДЄll the while, FieldsвЂ™s brain was bleeding. Fields lay on the track motionless for several minutes before he was carried away on a stretcher and put into an ambulance. Mahieu coasted to victory in the semifinal and finished sixth in the one-race final.ДЇields, his body streaked by road rash, sat up for a moment then slumped back down, unconscious. They got up, untangled themselves and their bikes, and rode on. Sylvain Andre of France and Twan Van Gendt of the Netherlands tumbled over Fields. I didnвЂ™t have time to do anything to get ready.вЂќ вЂњIt happened so fast, I didnвЂ™t have my hands out. вЂњWhy it was so bad is that I didnвЂ™t have time to brace for the impact,вЂќ Fields said. In a blink, Fields flipped forward, landing squarely on the right side of his face. His handlebars twisted, the front wheel turned sideways. When Fields was hospitalized, he received a message from Mahieu, offering best wishes. What if either of us had landed just another inch or two one way or another? He voices the inevitable what-ifs in the frame of chance, not intent. He still has the confident voice of a salesman, and he might be selling forgiveness to himself. вЂњI donвЂ™t think it was a malicious, intended move,вЂќ Fields said. Just looking at how my bikeвЂ™s positioned, IвЂ™m going down. вЂњHe lands right in front of me and - bang - hits my tire, and his hip hits my hand. вЂњWeвЂ™re both in the air right now, and thereвЂ™s zero we can do,вЂќ Fields said, pointing at the screen and playing one frame at a time. It is intact, but grated on the chin and the forehead, and a piece is missing. The helmet saved his life, Fields is certain. In the box is the red, white and blue helmet that Fields wore when he crashed, headfirst, in the kind of life-altering wreck that every racer fears. racing pants, chewed open at the knees.Дown in the garage, the walls papered with so many giant novelty winnersвЂ™ checks that they now get put on the ceiling, is a plain brown box. It is sliced open in the front, the blunt work of paramedics trying to save his life. It is torn across the shoulders and the back from a wreck that Fields does not remember. On a hanger is a shredded, stained United States racing jersey. It holds a different kind of souvenir, the flip side of success. Next to the upstairs room where Connor Fields displays the choicest mementos of his BMX racing triumphs - framed jerseys, championship trophies, the Olympic gold medal from 2016 - is a laundry room.

Dr brain games