“My helmet saved my life”
Chris was cycling home when a car suddenly pulled out and sideswiped him, throwing him from his bike and slamming his head against the curb. The driver sped off, leaving Chris concussed, injured and alone.
Before the accident, I was keen cyclist and that night, I left my friend’s house about half nine. Then I woke up in hospital about three hours later.
As he was cycling a car on Chris’ right-hand side pulled out without indicating.
Despite Chris’ shouts of warning, the car sideswiped him, knocking him clean off his bike.
“Having concussion is a very strange feeling. You’re just dizzy. You’ve got headaches. You’re light-headed.”
His head injury was serious, but it wasn’t the only damage: “My arm was in a sling. I had a grade-two disruption to my ACJ” – the acromioclavicular joint is where the collarbone meets the shoulder blade – “and the bone is disrupted. It’s offset and that’s how it’s been since the accident.”
Chris not only suffered from physical injuries but struggled mentally too.
“I’d wake up in the night thinking about it. It plays on your mind, and it takes you so long to go back to sleep because you’re just going over and over everything. You’re trying to piece together what had happened.”
When Chris read the paramedic reports, he learned just how close he had come to losing his life. Had he not been wearing a helmet, he would not have survived.
Chris was left with potentially life-changing injuries and a family to feed. “I had a job to go to. I couldn’t afford to have time off work. This person’s done this, left you; they get on with their life and you potentially can’t get on with yours.”
After a fruitless quest to track down CCTV or doorbell footage, Chris discovered MIB.
“MIB were willing to take on my claim,” he says. “Once MIB received the copy of the police report, that’s where it was all systems go. Everything clicked into place. And I never looked back after that.”
MIB arranged further medical investigations, including an MRI scan, and helped Chris access private treatment to support his recovery. Just as importantly, he felt listened to and supported.
“There’s always been support from MIB. It makes you feel somebody’s there to look after you. It makes you feel worthwhile.”
Although the accident knocked Chris’ confidence and forced him to stop cycling for a time, he is slowly rebuilding his strength and belief. With the help he received from MIB, he is moving forward and aiming to be back on two wheels.
