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Hayden Wilde’s comeback from a horrific accident to win a major race in London on the weekend is a result of dogged toughness, his doctor says.

Three months after being hit by a truck on a training ride in Japan, the New Zealand triathlete returned to competitive action with a remarkable victory at the T100 series race on Sunday.

The Olympic silver medallist couldn’t hold back tears when he crossed the line, having overcome one of the darkest moments of his career.

Three months prior, the 27-year-old was in a hospital bed in Japan beginning the recovery from several broken ribs, a broken scapula, and a punctured lung after being knocked off his bike by a truck.

Wilde phoned his doctor Sam Mayhew back in NZ immediately after the accident in Tokyo.

“He phones me up on the side of the road acting as though it wasn’t even that bad and then you wait two hours until he’s actually in hospital and you get the extent of the injuries and I was like ‘jeepers how were you even talking to me’ so it’s pretty extraordinary what he’s been able to achieve in the last three months to get back to racing.

“With Hayden he’s so tough it was hard to really know what’s initially happened. I was firstly worried about concussion because he’s just sitting there on the side of the road talking to me from Tokyo, so sort of checking those things.”

Wilde told his doctor his arm was “a bit sore” but that everything else seemed okay.

“Then two hours later I’m getting the full report of the extent of the injuries and I was like ‘oh dear’.”

Mayhew told First Up that it didn’t take him long to decide he needed to get to Tokyo.

“I got a phone call Sunday afternoon and by Sunday night it was pretty clear it was pretty serious and then made the call to fly to Tokyo that next morning.”

Getting Wilde surgery on his shoulder in a timely manner became the biggest concern.

“Can we get the surgery, when can we get it, how can we get it, and the longer we leave it the riskier it would be for his long-term outcomes.

“They [the doctors in Japan] sort of really wanted to wait for about three weeks to allow the ribs and lungs to heal... that’s all well and good if he wasn’t trying to become an elite triathlete again but it was really concerning about leaving his shoulder in a state without being repaired for three weeks because what happens is it can really seize up...

“We didn’t really want that shoulder joint to have long-term issues or arthritic issues because it took too long to be put back into a good place and surgically repaired.”

Mayhew helped advocate for Wilde and sorted out the logistics of getting him cleared for an emergency medical flight to Belgium - a week later the surgery was performed.

Mayhew, who has worked with Wilde for a number of years, said he was professional in everything he did.

“I think probably within about two hours of getting to Tokyo and seeing what the status was, he was already talking about you know X, Y, and Z in terms of rehab and what he needs to do and that means lining up physios, lining up rehab centres.

“His brain was already switched on about ‘what do I need to do, what are the one percents I can do everyday to be that little bit better’ through the rehab and recovery.

“He’s got a massive team around him that helps with this but it really is led by Hayden and it’s really amazing how quickly he could switch from ‘okay this sucks but I’m going to get on with it and do something about it’.”

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