Published: July 21, 2008 09:40 pm            

Bringing it all back home

Raisin on a mission for foundation

It’s been more than two years since Dalton’s Saul Raisin crashed in a professional bicycling race on April 4, 2006 and was left comatose with a traumatic brain injury at age 23.

Today, he stands healthy, almost fully recovered, and intent on raising awareness about traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) through his own Raisin Hope Foundation, which last year held the first annual Tour the Town, a criterium race and 5K run/walk that raised over $40,000.

The fundraising event was a dream of Raisin’s the day he awoke from his coma.

“I visualized it in the hospital,” he said. “I dreamed of riding my bike again, which would have been nothing short of a miracle, and starting a charity to give back. The day of the fundraiser I was in tears. It was beautiful.”

On Monday, Raisin — who last year married and now lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with his wife Aleeza — was back in Dalton at the Northwest Georgia Trade & Convention Center to attend a Kiwanis International event and raise sponsorship for this year’s Tour of the Town, which is scheduled for early October. (Kiwanis is a worldwide organization that works to improve the quality of life of children around the world.)

Though the 25-year-old was pleased with the outcome of last year’s Tour the Town, he’s expecting better results this year.

“Last year, the online donations were great, but I believe we can improve in the sponsorship area,” Raisin said. “There is so much unknown about the human brain, and the Brain Injury Association of America, which is supported by government grants, is not enough. Right now, there are no freestanding foundations like Livestrong (cyclist Lance Armstrong’s cancer research foundation), so we’re hurting for support.”

Raisin is one of the luckier ones to have recovered from his injury, but he notices many differences in his post-crash life — some subtle, some significant. The latter keep him from returning to cycling, despite the nod of approval from doctors to do so.

“When tests are run on me, everything is normal, and physically everything is normal,” Raisin said. “But mentally, I have lapses. Sometimes I’m not able to read facial expressions. I can’t feel fatigue, so I don’t know when I’m getting tired. That’s dangerous and that’s why I won’t race (professionally) again.”

His parents, Jim and Yvonne Raisin of Dalton, also see a difference in their son.

“Some of his bad habits are worse, and some of his good habits are better,” Jim said.

“He’s more affectionate,” Yvonne said. “He struggles with his executive and social skills. He’s very impulsive. For example, if he’s hungry and someone is talking to him, in the middle of the conversation he’ll go straight to where the food is, even if he’s the one who started the conversation. Whatever is on his mind. But he’s getting better.”

While his days as a pro are over, Raisin rides his bike and also runs anywhere from 14-18 hours a week. And he still has a home in France, where he was a member of the professional cycling Team Agricole. On Sunday, his former teammate and neighbor in France, Simon Gerrans of Australia, won the 15th stage of the Tour de France.

“I called him (Sunday) to congratulate him,” Raisin said.

Although cycling is currently tainted by performance enhancers and failed drug tests — in the 2008 Tour alone, three cyclists have been disqualified for failing drug tests — Raisin pointed out the positives in the current dilemma cycling faces.

“I think, in some ways, cycling is a good example for sports,” he said. “(UCI ProTour) has by far the strictest drug testing program in all of sports. They keep 15 sample vials of your blood in a database and look for changes in your iron levels and other changes. How can you test like that and still pass (if you’re doping)? You can’t.”

Raisin believes the reasoning behind the want for stricter testing in other sports goes far beyond the purpose of catching cheaters.

“Genetically, athletes are made to give 100 percent,” he said. “Performance-enhancing chemicals will push your body to work, say, 39 percent harder. You can put 500 horsepower in a Volkswagen Beetle, but is that good for it?

“It’s going to blow up. Sports, business — it’s all part of life, but don’t make it your life. It’s too much of a risk and it will come back to get you.”

When he’s not busy at work with his foundation or exercising, Raisin is at his Utah home spending time with Aleeza, the sister of pro cyclist Dave Zabriskie, also of Salt Lake City.

“She’s helped me so much more than I think she knows,” Raisin said. “She’s made me into a gentlemen.”

        

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