"In April 2018, at the Merzouga rally in Morocco, I fractured both clavicles, they took me out of the dunes by helicopter and they admitted me to the nearest hospital. There I realized how lucky we are with our health. I do not want to go into many details, but for example there the strongest analgesic they gave me was a 600 gram ibuprofen. I asked to be discharged to return and have surgery in Spain, but as I suffered a pneumothorax and there was a risk of lung damage they denied it to me and they insisted on intervening there. In the end my father came, who was my mechanic during the rally, he took me out of the hospital without permission, we got into the van and two days, 2,000 kilometers and a ferry later, I went straight into a hospital in Madrid to the operating room. Although the injury was not very serious, it was quite a traumatic experience because of everything that happened ", says the pilot Sara García and anyone would think that after that scare she parked the motorcycle in the garage and left it there for a while.
But quite the opposite.
After his serious accident and his escape from Morocco, he made his debut in the Dakar and the following year, that is, at the beginning of 2020, he completed the toughest rally in the world for the first time.
All with plates holding his back.
All in the most extreme category, the Original, which prevents pilots from receiving medical assistance in pursuit of adventure.
Why?
"Because rallies, off road, I love them. I confirmed that in the months after the accident. I would go out with the motorcycle and was all the time thinking about what would happen if it hurt me, how they would rescue me, what hospital would I go to ... I had a hard time enjoying it again, I had to work on it with a psychologist, Bea Escartín, and in the end I realized that I really liked what I was doing because I was trying so hard to get it back. I guess the adventure is in my blood, "explains García. that in the after-hours of family meals he completed a master's degree.
Since he was aware, his father Antonio, a mechanic of several vehicles in the Dakar of the 80s, was there, recounting all kinds of incidents such as that time he flew with a truck through a ravine in the Republic of Guinea.
Owner of a dealership in Zamora, he passed on to his daughter Sara his passion for two wheels until in 2017 she was the world champion of raids, until this 2020, after passing through a hospital in Morocco, she fulfilled the joint dream of finishing a Dakar.
And now that?
"Now more gas."
García flies to Saudi Arabia today to participate in his third Dakar and try to reach the finish line for the second time.
He will do it again with his partner, the also pilot Javi Vega, with whom he always runs, the two of them together, one after the other.
They are so little separated that last year he came to ram her into a crash that, fortunately, had no consequences.
Vega is faster, but García is better oriented and thus they complement, in addition to helping himself with the mechanics, the great challenge of the Original category.
"One day I would like to try to run with assistance, but he is more masoch, he says that this is the real Dakar", reveals García and, in his head, only a map.
This year the Dakar repeats its location in Saudi Arabia, although the event will change slightly.
The organization has reduced the length of the sections and has wanted to give priority to navigation in a decision that benefits the pilot.
She will once again be the only woman in the Original category so if she finishes her victory is assured, but this time she may win a place.
From the twenty-second place of the previous edition to ... "Well, well, my goal is still to finish, which in this category is not easy, and to be able to enjoy more of last year. In the end, since you have to repair your motorcycle, you rest very little and you end the rally with your brain fried, but if I can go a little more spare I will be very happy ", concludes the 32-year-old pilot who thanks to her sponsors has returned to collect the" 50,000 or 60,000 euros "that the Dakar costs to enjoy the adventure again.
Not a bad experience in a Moroccan hospital could reduce such passion.
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