Nine months ago, France's Charles Pagès spent a week in a coma after crashing on a front flip attempt gone wrong at the 2011 Bercy Supercross. Today, Pagès is still on the long road to recovery, but he has yet to find out when, or if, he'll be able to ride a dirt bike ever again. We met up with Pagès during a recent rehabilitation session in France, where he filled us in on the past nine months since his accident, what the future holds, and what he's doing to ensure he'll be able to hit the ramps once again.

Jean Francois MuguetAs a result of his traumatic head injury, Charles Pagès' balance is nowhere near what it once was.

ESPN.com: Charles, thanks so much for taking the time to meet with us.
Charles Pagès: Of course, thank you. It's nice to have someone come visit me! But it's too bad you're not visiting me at the ramps because I was riding. This can't really seem to interest anybody ... people don't care about an old men who crashes all the time. (Laughs)

Well, you seem like you're doing a bit better than before -- you have your sense of humor back ...
I've only been feeling better for the last few months. It's tough because I feel way better, but I still don't understand why I can't ride.

That's the doctor who decides whether or not you're ready to ride, right?
Yes, and it is necessary until my head is back to normal, or as normal as it can be. Due to the gravity of my crash, the doctors said it would take about 18 months to fully recover. I am still in danger of experiencing epileptic fits, and it would be extremely damaging should I hit my head hard again before I'm healed. To this day I'm still having a hard time with my balance, my attention span, and sometimes I have trouble finding the right words to say. I'm told that's normal, but it's the addition of these other small things, which make it a big problem. They even told me that I would not be able to recover completely from the trauma, so I learned how to be a little more realistic and also a little pessimistic. It's possible that I may not ride a dirt bike ever again and I'm starting to believe in it.

But you're working on all that with physical therapy and rehab, right?
Yeah, I do a lot of rehabilitation for my eyes. I started to ride a bicycle, but my vision is gets off track with the small shocks and I lose my balance. That's why I have to work on my eyes.

Jean Francois MuguetPagès is working hard to improve his vision problems caused by the crash.

You're also working on your balance at a circus school, aren't you?
Yeah. The doctors are saying that my progression is surprising considering the gravity of the accident. One doctor proposed that I take up a physical activity, which resembles the motions of FMX. So I enrolled at a circus school. I work on my balance, locations in space, explosiveness on beams, rolling on the ground for the reflexes, and I even walk on balloons. In fact it's just becoming a normal thing for me.

So the doctors were saying that if you were to endure any more trauma to your head it'd be dramatic, right?
Yes. If I knock my head even slightly with a helmet that doesn't fit perfectly, I will have to start rehab all over and I'll be in a worse situation than I was after Bercy. It would not be all that serious if I could never ride a dirt bike ever again, but I don't iintend to speak about that. Deep down, I am sure that I can ride again. I think about FMX all the time, and new tricks that could be done. Every month I go to the doctor to get a checkup and I joke to him that it'll be the last time he sees me. And he always laughs ...

Have you thought about quitting FMX all together, due to your injury?
Of course, although I try to be realistic. I've thought about quitting, but it quickly passes because I'm just so passionate about the sport. I still believe in it. And I do know very well that even if that time comes when I can ride, it won't be anytime soon. Who knows, my career could be done, but by believing I'll ride again makes me follow through with the exercises at the circus and in rehab. Unfortunately I haven't seen any progress in several months, but I keep try to keep my head up.

How did you feel about being a spectator at recent FMX events like San Sebastien or at the Extreme Freestylers In Paris? Is it tough?
Yeah, it's been really tough. Before San Sebastien, I had the mindset that being a professional FMX rider had been a highlight of my life and that I had benefitted well from it, whether I'll ever ride again, or not. So I decided to start looking for other career options, but once the show started, I was overtaken with emotion and excitement as the lights turned off, the music got louder, the rider's made their introduction. I got freaked out and I said to myself "Charlie, this is what you must continue to do and nothing else!"

Has the entire healing process been a bit depressing for you?
Well, it hasn't been very easy. I wonder why I'm required to sleep twice a day? Why I can't drink a beer with my friends? Why I am always too tired to party? I honestly haven't been able to do anything fun and it's been like this for the past nine months!

Haven't you been going to the FMX park with your brother to watch him ride? How's that been?
Well, he can't ride alone and he needs somebody to help him get out of the foam pit. Since I don't have anything else to do, going to the FMX park gets me out of the house, otherwise I start to feel trapped.

Jean Francois MuguetUnable to ride his dirt bike, Charles is still able to help his brother Thomas get out of the foam pit.

I've been talking to your friends and family and they all say that you're improving a lot.
Yeah, that's what they keep telling me. I respect what they're saying, I just don't seem to see the progress and it kind of makes me upset with them in a certain way. If my condition has improved, it is so minor it's hard to see! This has been the hardest test of my life.

Have you analyzed your crash to find out what went wrong?
Normally, after a big crash in FMX, you learn from your mistakes and progress. You use it as a way to learn so you don't do the same stupid thing again. When I re-examined the video of my crash, and with the few memories that I have, I think that I did everything correctly. The front flip wasn't bad at all.

Do you plan on trying the trick again if the doctors allow you permission to ride?
Absolutely. That's it, plain and simple. It took me two years to learn that trick and I've only crashed five or six times. But yeah, I will do it!

With you being so close to death, what has this crash taught you about life?
It makes me realize that life should be lived your own way, and to enjoy it until the day you die. The typical subway, job, sleep, eat, couch, TV isn't a normal life. I often think about Jeremy Lusk. He had the exact same thing, a cerebral oedema. And even though h died, he lived his life to the fullest and never compromised it for anyone.