Matthias Walkner

Dakar winner regained courage in this clinic

Walkner can now shoulder his crutches most of the time.(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

A serious accident changed the life of motorcycle ace Matthias Walkner in December. Since then, the rehabilitation clinic in Tobelbad, Styria, has become his second home. Where bad fates meet, "rascal pranks" also give hope.

The Dakar Rally bivouac was Matthias Walkner's second home for a long time. Since his serious training accident last December, it has been the AUVA rehabilitation clinic in Tobelbad just outside Graz. The 38-year-old from Salzburg has been undergoing regular physiotherapy there since mid-February, having the six-centimeter hole in his left ankle "patched" with pieces of bone examined and treated.