‘I’m cooking again after crash nearly killed me’
A CHEF who trained with Gordon Ramsay has described the moment he was almost killed in a brutal hitand-run.
Lee Skeet, who lives in Cardiff Bay, trained under the world-famous chef at Claridge’s when he was just 23 before spending seven years working in some of London’s top kitchen.
After leaving his job as head chef of the Michelin-starred Hedone restaurant in Chiswick, Lee moved to Cardiff in 2014 to set up his own supper club, initially at Brewdog,
Following a successful first few months, Lee took a holiday to Cornwall with his then-girlfriend and two-year-old son Jackson in May 2017 - where he would end up being left for dead under the wheels of a lorry.
The family were walking along a pavement with Jackson in his pushchair having spent the day at Porthmeor beach in St Ives for the day. Out of nowhere an out-of-control lorry careered into the back of them.
“By the time I saw the lorry coming at us I could pretty much touch it,” recalls Lee. “I just panicked and pushed my son as hard as I could. He was on wheels, luckily, before the lorry hit me. It just completely wiped me out into a wall.”
After mowing down Lee the lorry just drove off. The driver was arrested a few hours later on the motorway and subsequently pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention. Sentenced at Truro Magistrates’ Court, the driver lost his licence.
“My first thought was my son,” continued Lee. “I could see him in his pram but it was completely crushed around him. I thought he was dead. I managed to get to him but I couldn’t stand up because my leg was hanging off of me. I pulled myself over. Jackson wasn’t dead. He was squashed in his pram, covered in cuts and bruises.
“Once I saw my son was all right I realised my leg was in a bad way.”
His left leg had been crushed and he could see it filling up with blood before his eyes. His thigh had been split open by the impact which had forced his bone right through his leg muscles.
While the physical wounds healed over time and with months of rehab the emotional scars remained and Lee struggled to come to terms with what had happened.
“With my son being there, he could have died,” Lee says very slowly. “It was only 20 seconds of my life but in those seconds I thought I was going to find my son’s body. It does affect you.”
Only now, as the country emerges from lockdown, is Lee starting to work again. It took him six months to learn how to walk again after he left hospital in 2017. He hasn’t cooked since bar a brief stint at the Cornwall Boardmasters festival and the odd pop-up event for charity.
After a spiral into some dark times Lee has picked himself up and has rekindled the cooking. He is starting off with supper clubs, one table at a time.
“I’m not very good at front of house,” says Lee. “I’m not sure where I am with cooking and my confidence is not where it was so this is a chance to build it up. I was on a bit of a roll when I stopped cooking.
“It feels a lot safer cooking for one table - there’s not so many eyes on me.”
He has launched Bones Supper Club and will cook for just one table a day at a friend’s flat in Cardiff. It will be a throwback to the original loft-style New York and London supper clubs, says Lee, and a chance for him to show off his flair for food.
“I didn’t think I would be cooking again ever and I blanked it from my life,” said Lee. “I wouldn’t have a clue about what everyone else is doing. I’m kind of starting all over again.
“People are so preoccupied with what everyone else is doing - they either copy others or don’t focus on their own ideas. It will mean a lot more about me as a chef.”
The tasting menu is priced at £50 per head for around six courses. The tasting menu is expected to include Lee’s signature dishes including roast Cornish duck, wild mushrooms and sea vegetables, and St Ives Bay crab with local tomato consomme and wild beach mint.
Reservations are now available between August and October and can be booked at www.bones-entertainment.com.