Team Sky Soigneur Txema González Passes Away

by ZoeRochelle on Sep 3, 2010 1:04 PM EDT

Velonews reported today that a team soigneur, Spanish massage therapist Txema González, died in the hospital in Sevilla. Greg Henderson tweeted earlier today about the illness:

Keep fighting team carer Txema. He is in a very critical coma condition in Sevilla hospital. All related to @teamsky virus that swept team.

Juan Flecha abandoned today after spending a few hours in the hospital sick last night. I commented on the live thread today they should pull the team out and go home. The risk just seems too high. They are also risking infecting everyone else.

Update: Team Sky has clarified in a statement on their website that Txema González's death was not caused by the same virus that has made the other riders and staff ill.

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That's horrible news.

And they still don’t even know what it is, according to the story.

I really do not understand the truth.--Riccardo Ricco (per Google Translate)

by majope on Sep 3, 2010 1:07 PM EDT reply actions

Wow..

by Frinking on Sep 3, 2010 1:12 PM EDT reply actions

Terrible

If they don’t know what it is, the team should pull out immediately. Send everyone safely home and away from whatever is causing them all to get sick. I’m surprised it hasn’t spread already to more in the peloton.

"Thanks again, Floyd Landis, Yellow Jersey Wearer: Nuisance Category"

by PopUp Rolen on Sep 3, 2010 1:13 PM EDT reply actions

my thoughts exactly. The story says the team was trying to keep it quiet.

by ZoeRochelle on Sep 3, 2010 1:20 PM EDT up reply actions

not the death, but that he was in a critical condition in a coma.

by ZoeRochelle on Sep 3, 2010 1:22 PM EDT up reply actions

I think from the press release it's clear the two things aren't related.

I don’t think they were trying to keep it quiet in the sense of “cover it up” but more to give some privacy to the poor bloke & those around him.

"I was just trying to keep warm" - Ian Stannard on finishing third in KBK

by civetta on Sep 3, 2010 2:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Not totally clear, no.

In that it doesn’t ever specifically say Gonzalez did not have the virus, just that he died from the bacterial infection and the bacterial infection is not the same thing as the virus.

Bacterial infections in hospitals have been an increasing problem in recent years, and people weakened from viruses are among those likely to catch them. So it’s not impossible, given what little we know, that Gonzalez went into the hospital with the virus and caught the infection there.

I really do not understand the truth.--Riccardo Ricco (per Google Translate)

by majope on Sep 3, 2010 4:03 PM EDT up reply actions

it's septicaemia

not MRSA or whatever… a friend of my brother’s died from septicaemia as a result of a bacterial infection when he was about 15 & had up until that point been perfectly healthy… it was all the more horrendous for that very reason. Yes, of course, if you’re weakened from a virus or something it could contribute but not necessarily. & if Sky say it’s not connected – which is how I read it – I take them at their word.

"I was just trying to keep warm" - Ian Stannard on finishing third in KBK

by civetta on Sep 4, 2010 5:23 PM EDT up reply actions

The infectious period often precedes the symptoms

for all sorts of communicable diseases.

And we don’t know how it was passed. All that joking about biting the tops off gel pacs? Not really a joke…

Besides, say he had, I don’t know, appendicitis. And say everyone else was also having belly pain, and vomiting…and he (or the team) ignored it until it burst. Or something like that.

Terribly sad.

But not catching.

by JFS_PGH on Sep 3, 2010 3:55 PM EDT up reply actions

How very sad

Badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger...

by TheFigurehead on Sep 3, 2010 1:50 PM EDT reply actions

yes

"I was just trying to keep warm" - Ian Stannard on finishing third in KBK

by civetta on Sep 3, 2010 2:32 PM EDT up reply actions

+1

moo

by Willj on Sep 3, 2010 4:38 PM EDT up reply actions

Article at Team Sky's site

Here.

Team Sky’s Head of Medical Dr Steve Peters explained: "Txema contracted a bacterial infection which entered the bloodstream and developed into sepsis.
“The toxins from this had damaged the organs in his body and he went into septic shock and unfortunately succumbed to that.
“I should also clarify that this bacterial infection has nothing to do with the viral infection which many of the team have suffered with in Spain, causing stomach upset.”

Badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger...

by TheFigurehead on Sep 3, 2010 1:54 PM EDT reply actions

Perhaps then the heading should be changed?

"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'

by Seahorse on Sep 3, 2010 1:58 PM EDT up reply actions

I think it would be good to do that.

"I was just trying to keep warm" - Ian Stannard on finishing third in KBK

by civetta on Sep 3, 2010 2:29 PM EDT up reply actions

So the incidents are completely unrelated

The last paragraph should be taken out too

"Oh man, it’s going to take days to kill all these people!"

by lieutenantmudd on Sep 3, 2010 2:31 PM EDT up reply actions

I updated it and changed the title.

by ZoeRochelle on Sep 3, 2010 2:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Strange occurences

this sounds like something that may have been misdiagnosed and spread quickly to the bloodstream. I would be concerned about whether such matters are possibly related in that the people getting sick may have differing problems. Frightening news.

"You know if there's any contact at all Cristiano Ronaldo's gonna go down...maybe even just a puff of wind"

by agl on Sep 3, 2010 3:50 PM EDT up reply actions