Doctor Steven Claes: “Athletes can quickly turn a certain switch, I already felt that with Van Aert on Wednesday”

Now that Wout van Aert has undergone surgery after his heavy fall in Dwars door Vlaanderen, the recovery can begin. And that will take time, says doctor Steven Claes of the AZ in Herentals. “We just try to treat our patients as best as possible, not necessarily as quickly as possible,” De Afspraak said.

Wout van Aert was on the operating table of doctor Tom Claes in Herentals today. His brother and fellow doctor Steven Claes was a guest in De Afspraak on Thursday evening. Logical first question: how is Van Aert doing now?

“Considering the circumstances, it was quite good. The operation went according to plan, but there are of course injuries that cannot be remedied with surgery alone,” says Claes.

Read: It will take time for all wounds to heal. “These are combinations of complex injuries that make it more than just a classic collarbone fracture.”

It’s amazing how emotionally tough and resilient most of those athletes are.

doctor Steven Claes

“With complex combinations of injuries, it is important that we fine-tune them one by one. In the case of Wout van Aert, unfortunately there were a lot of them. And especially for athletes, every small secondary diagnosis determines the speed of recovery. recovery.”

And no matter how deep Van Aert must have been in on Wednesday evening when he was brought into the emergency room in Herentals, his gaze already seems to be focused on the future.

“The special thing about such athletes is that they can turn a kind of switch very quickly. I already felt that with him yesterday. It is amazing how emotionally resilient and resilient most of those athletes are. The spring has clearly ended and then there is There’s no way back either.”

As treating physicians, we simply try to treat our patients as best as possible, not necessarily as quickly as possible.

Steven Claes

Here and there the question was already asked whether the Giro would still be possible for Van Aert. A doctor does not want to answer that question. “That hasn’t actually been discussed and I don’t like to do that either,” says Steven Claes.

“For a rider with such a serious injury, it is important to have a basis in which he can see improvement day by day. Then it is certainly not soothing for the mind to immediately set those goals quite far and quite concretely in the future. to lay.”

“It is wiser to put the pieces of the puzzle of all those injuries together step by step. To this end, we communicate with the team doctors on a daily basis. As treating physicians, we do not make any statements about possible matches. We simply try to treat our patients as best as possible, not necessary as soon as possible.”