Greg broke his back raising cash for bikers but can’t wait to race again
BY ALAN McEWEN alan.mcewen@reachplc A MOTORCYCLIST broke his back in a horror crash while raising funds for an injured bikers’ charity.
Greg Haylott was taking part in a meeting at the East Fortune circuit in East Lothian to raise funds in memory of a pal who was killed in a race.
But the 39-year-old was badly injured in a 100mph accident. Doctors feared he’d never compete again but Greg has staged a remarkable recovery and now plans to continue his racing career.
He said: “I’ve been racing since I was 16. A friend of the family called Bruce Clark got me into it.
“Sadly, he was killed in a motocross accident in 1996. I decided to race to raise money for the ACU Benevolent Fund. It benefits those who have been hurt at racing and perhaps can’t work or fall into financial difficulties.”
The charity race went without incident but Greg then went out for another event. He lost traction at a corner and went down.
Greg said of the crash in April: “I slid into a field and somersaulted in the air a few times, travelling about 100 yards. I hit something with my lower back.
“The marshals got to me quickly, which was my saviour. If I’d tried to sit up. I could have done more serious damage and ended up paralysed.”
Doctors told Greg, a lecturer at Edinburgh College, he’d suffered an “unstable fracture” to his vertebrae but he’d been “really lucky”.
Greg, from Dalkeith, Midlothian, added: “I’d like to race at the start of next year. I miss it so much and need to get back on a bike.
“I’ll be off work until August but I’m in a fortunate position. For injured riders who are self-employed, a crash like that could be devastating.
“That’s why the ACU Benevolent Fund is so important.”