That’s wheel dedication!
Cyclist hit by a drunk driver completes Land’s End charity trip 2 years on after re-learning how to walk (and ride bike)
IT takes a certain amount of grit to cycle from John O’Groats to Land’s End.
But to complete the ride after nearly losing your life in a horrific road smash takes determination of an entirely different order.
And that’s what Jean-Pierre de Villiers has in spades.
Two years ago he was 880 miles into the charity cycling challenge when he was mowed down by a drunk hit-and-run driver in a stolen car outside combe Martin, north Devon.
He had been hit with such force he was found by locals – alerted by his screams – wedged between a tree and a barrier at the side of the road. His bike was shattered to pieces.
He was airlifted to hospital and put on a life-support machine for 15 days.
Mr de Villiers had two shattered legs, a fractured arm, a punctured lung, as well as bowel and heart injuries.
The 39-year-old motivational speaker from Welton, Northamptonshire, had metal plates fitted into his legs and right arm, and a rod attached to his right hip down to his knee.
Miraculously he defied doctors by learning to walk again just under a month after the accident.
Mr de Villiers, originally from South Africa, has now returned to the crash site to finish the cycle challenge.
He said: ‘For me, this was a life-changing experience, but I am grateful to be alive. It just doesn’t seem real that it happened. Because of my job as a mindset coach I never thought “Why me?”. I used it as fuel to practice gratitude and drive me to the goal.
‘Of course it wasn’t plain sailBecause
‘I couldn’t wait to get on my bike’
ing. I suffer from PTSD from the accident and I felt like I lost who I was. But I was determined to finish it. As soon as I woke up from intensive care I knew I was going to finish it.
‘One of the first thoughts was I couldn’t wait to get back on my bike. I was mentally planning it while bed-bound and that’s what got me through. of the pandemic it’s something I’ve had unticked for two years. I’m so happy and proud I could finally do it.’
Motorist Stephen Evans, 70, was four times over the drinkdrive limit when he hit Mr de Villiers.
Evans, from Ilfracombe, north Devon, admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving, drink driving, driving while disqualified and uninsured, and failing to stop.
Jason Beal, defending, said Evans was suffering from alcohol addiction and had expressed true remorse. He was given a 24-month sentence and a tenyear driving ban. The jury at Exeter crown court heard Evans was so drunk that police found him collapsed in an alleyway shortly after the crash.