Motorcyclist reveals how life has changed after suffering cardiac arrest while racing
British motorcyclist Allan Lain is urging more people to learn CPR after surviving a cardiac arrest when racing at Mallory Park.
Worcestershire rider Allan Lain has revealed the importance of learning life-saving skills, after a man helped save his life by performing CPR when he suffered a cardiac arrest three years ago.
Lain was racing at Mallory Park when, suddenly, everything changed.
Lain suffered a cardiac arrest as he entered a corner, resulting in the British racer coming off his motorcycle at high speed.
However, Lain believes his accident could have been much worse had it happened just five seconds later.
Had Lain’s cardiac arrest happened five seconds later than it did, the speed at which he could have crashed would have been around 100mph.
CPR was then performed by someone at the track, before Lain woke up from an induced coma three days later.
Speaking to the BBC, Lain said:
“I lifted up my gown and my chest was completely black and blue but that was from the CPR “That means someone had fought for me, so it was a good thing.
“I look at life differently now because there's nothing worse that can happen. I try and really fulfil my life and enjoy my life and try and be as happy as I can.”
The cardiac arrest was caused by a left artery blockage, which restricted blood flow to the main pumping chamber in his heart. After Lain had an operation to remove the blockage, his surgeon cleared him to race, which he did in April 2024 as he returned to Mallory Park. Lain won both races that day, before going on to win the 2024 Rookie 1000 Championship.
Since his near death incident, Lain has urged more people to learn CPR, as well as saying more defibrillators should be available in local communities.
“I was lucky I had the cardiac arrest in front of an ambulance on a race track,” added Lain. “If I hadn't have been looked after so quickly, then a lot of things could have gone a lot worse.
“I probably wouldn't have been able to ride, I might have had brain damage. It's important to act very quickly.”
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After graduating with a sports journalism degree, Robert joined Crash.net to lead the WorldSBK coverage in 2021, while also providing MotoGP coverage. Fulfilling that role for over three years, Robert was able to put his knowledge about all things racing to the test.
