Overturned After Bicycle Wheel Gets Stuck in Facility at Hangang Park: "It's a Miracle I Survived"

Fractures in Three Cervical Vertebrae...
"Fortunate to Avoid Full-Body Paralysis"

District Office: "Delay in Full Replacement Due to Required Time"

A citizen suffered serious injuries after falling when the wheel of his bicycle got stuck in a gap between facilities at Hangang Park.

According to JTBC’s “Incident Commander” on September 8, a man in his 60s surnamed A, who lives in Mangwon-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, visited Mangwon Hangang Park on July 29 at around 10 a.m. while riding his bicycle.

While riding through the entrance, the wheel of his bicycle became stuck in a gap between steel plates, causing the bicycle to overturn due to the sudden impact. As a result, Mr. A struck his face directly on the concrete ground.

In the broadcast, Mr. A said, “I don’t remember anything from the moment I fell. A passerby called 119. I must have been taken to a university hospital because I was covered in blood. My daughter reportedly recoiled in shock after seeing the CCTV footage from the scene. The hospital staff told me it was a miracle that I survived and considered it fortunate that I did not suffer full-body paralysis,” he recounted.

Mr. A, who had an overturn accident at Hangang Park while riding a bicycle. JTBC video capture

Due to the accident, Mr. A suffered fractures in three areas of his cervical vertebrae, a concussion, and facial abrasions. It was also reported that he lost his front teeth. He was hospitalized for over a week, was unable to go to work for a month, and as of now, medical expenses have reached 3 million won, with planned cervical surgery expected to cost 8 million won.

When Mr. A visited the Hangang Park management office for accident processing, he was told that on June 2, the office had informed Mapo-gu Office of safety concerns and the need to replace the facility. However, as of two months after Mr. A’s accident, the facility had not yet been replaced.

Mr. A said, “I inquired about compensation at Mapo-gu Office, but was told that the facility was not covered by property liability insurance, so compensation would be difficult. Instead, I was only told that I could receive about 200,000 won from bicycle accident insurance and about 400,000 won from insurance for Mapo-gu residents, totaling 600,000 won.”

Meanwhile, Mapo-gu Office stated on the program that “Temporary measures regarding the steel plates were taken in early June, and because the replacements are custom-made, full replacement took time and was finally completed on the 5th of last month after the accident. We informed the accident victim that they may file a claim for state compensation directly.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.