Injured BMX cyclist Kai Sakakibara has made steady progress as he continues his recovery from a serious crash.
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The incident at a February UCI BMX World Cup event in Bathurst saw the Helensburgh athlete airlifted to Canberra Hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Sakakibara underwent surgery to relieve pressure on the brain and was placed in an induced coma in the hospital's intensive care unit.
In an update provided by his family, the 23-year-old has been moved out of ICU as he makes steady progress.
"It is now exactly seven weeks since Kai crashed, and we are relieved to say that he is making progress - tiny steps in the right direction," the statement said.
"A key step for Kai is he is now off the respirator and can breathe by himself unassisted. As he is not dependent on the breathing machinery, it has been possible to move him out of the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) and into a high care ward.
"We were absolutely amazed by the care and professionalism provided by the Canberra ICU. There is no doubt without their incredible skills, support infrastructure and genuine ability to look after critically ill patients, Kai would not be here today."
With the move out of ICU, doctors have been able to stop the use of sedative drugs, and a number of medical devices, including a respirator, have been disconnected.
Sakakibara has also opened his eyes and is looking around as he begins to emerge from the coma.
"According to the neurosurgeons, Kai is starting the long process of 'emerging' from his coma.
"People who are emerging from a coma do not just 'wake up', but go through a gradual process of regaining consciousness over a long period of time which could take months.
"This is the start of the recovery process; the doctors are happy with the improvements he has made so far but does remind us that they are not able to predict the future. Every case is different."
Sakakibara and younger sister Saya were deep in preparations for the Tokyo Olympics when the incident happened.
The Games were set to act as a return home for the siblings, the pair having spent some of their childhood living in Japan.
The injury saw Kai's racing career put on hold, while Saya's Olympic dream has been postponed for a year after last week's decision to move the Games to 2021.
After spending the early weeks following the injury by Kai's side, Saya returned to the Illawarra to continue her training.
The 21-year-old competed at the US Lone Star Nationals in Houston earlier this month, where she finished third.
Parents Martin and Yuki have remained in Canberra and they thanked the BMX community for their support throughout this period.
"The support for Kai has been absolutely amazing from the BMX community, the Helensburgh community where we live and other friends.
"We are incredibly humbled by the response and the support from people all around the world. And no doubt, it has helped us be strong and keep positive."
The family acknowledges the process moving forward for Kai will be a long one, with doctors unable to provide a firm timeframe for his recovery.
This, they said, has been one of the most challenging aspects of the past seven weeks.
"People ask how we are doing which is a bit tricky to answer. All parents want to help their children where they can, but in this case, we feel very helpless - this is Kai's fight and ultimately success (whatever that looks like) will depend on him.
"We also have to manage the uncertainty of not knowing how things are going to turn out for Kai, we don't know what recovery looks like and we don't know how far he will be able to go.
"In order to stay positive, we try and focus on what we have gained and not what we have lost. We don't spend too much time thinking about how close Kai was to his dream of making the Olympics because that doesn't help.
"Instead, we need to remind ourselves that we nearly lost him seven weeks ago and he has fought to get to where he is today - there are small improvements every day and we are grateful for all of these. Things are so much better now than they were 42 days ago."
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