Dad breaks his neck and back in bike crash at quarry
A BIKER has told how he fractured his neck and back in a ‘freak accident’ at a quarry.
Gary Jones also dislocated his shoulder, fractured three ribs and injured his hand in the horror fall.
The 35-year-old Sky engineer, from Milnrow in Rochdale, crashed his bike in Cowm Quarry in Whitworth, landing on his head and knocking himself out.
Ambulances, an air ambulance, advanced paramedic and the hazardous area response team rushed to the scene, along with Rossendale and Pendle Mountain Rescue teams and staff from Cowm Leisure, which runs the quarry.
Gary, who was with his eight-year-old son, his brother and friends, praised the ‘brilliant’ work of emergency services.
He said: “I was on my bike up in Cowm Quarry. I’ve been a few times, I went up a rock and it just went a bit wrong. I landed on my head and knocked myself out.
“When I was unconscious, I was with my brother and all the lads from TD Racing. When the air ambulance arrived, due to this Covid situation they couldn’t actually put me into it, so they rang for the heart team.
“Then as soon as the heart team got on site they asked for response from the mountain rescue team. They got me up and into an off-road machine and then got me out onto the road, where the ambulances were, and took me to Salford Royal to the spinal unit there.”
Gary’s wife soon arrived at the scene, but due to coronavirus was unable to go with him in the ambulance.
Gary added: “Not much was going through my head really, I was just hoping my bike was all right to be honest. My little lad was there – he’s only eight and the first thing I asked was that I didn’t want him to see me. Everyone who was there did a great job, all the emergency services and everyone at Cowm Leisure and the TD racing lads.”
Amazingly, the crash hasn’t put Gary off going out on his bike when he is well again.