Biker thanks ambulance staff
A human resources worker from Skye who thought he was going to die after coming off his motorbike after a collision with a van has praised the Scottish Ambulance Service emergency responders who came to his aid.
Chris Prior, who works in Glasgow, was travelling home to Skye on Friday June 15 when he came off his Kawasaki Ninja motorbike.
The 42-year-old said there had been an accident in Loch Lomond, forcing him to take a ‘massive detour'. He explained: ‘I was in a long line of traffic and moving really slowly. I manoeuvred out behind a car. Just as I popped out to have a look, a van – coming in the opposite direction – glanced me on the side and hit me. I flew off the bike and flew half the width of the road and into a crash barrier and landed in a heap.'
Mr Prior said an off-duty doctor and another member of the public, both travelling home at the time of the accident, initially came to his aid.
He explained: ‘There was another person, a member of the public, who also assisted. They both made me comfortable.'
They called 999 and an ambulance crew was dispatched from Fort Augustus, while an air ambulance helicopter was also sent to the scene. Mr Prior said the air and road crews arrived quickly, adding: ‘I thought, this is going to take ages, but they were there quite quickly.
‘I knew I had broken my hip and I also thought I had broken my shoulder and foot, but both were just badly bruised.'
After being given pain killers, Mr Prior was put in the back of the ambulance.
He added: ‘It was painful, but it was in fits and starts. Initially, I did not feel a thing, but after that, every time they moved me, it hurt. It was quite bad.'
Mr Prior was airlifted to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness where he had an operation on his hip.
Of the paramedics who came to his aid, he said: ‘They were really good. They were really professional. They knew what they were doing and were really friendly, considerate and professional.
‘I had never broken a bone before and never had an accident before. I have been riding for 24 years.
‘I just remember a massive bash. I thought I was going to die. I remember flying through the air but cannot remember hitting the crash barrier. It was all quite scary.
‘Thank you to the paramedics. I am so lucky to be alive.'