7th February 2023
I was cycling home from work, as usual. West Street is the main road between Fareham station and the town centre, a busy thoroughfare, very well lit and as it was after dark I was showing my own lights. I was wearing my highly reflective jacket.
As always I was keeping a close eye on other traffic. A car was stopped on Grove Road, a side street, waiting for a break in the traffic and I made eye contact with the driver to ensure she had seen me. Nonetheless she pulled out right in front of me making collision unavoidable. I was thrown over the bonnet, landing on my back on the road.
My injuries included severe wounding to my lower left leg which needed hospital treatment, and having had to wait four and a half hours for an ambulance, in temperatures of minus 5 degrees C, this duly arrived. Hospital treatment was followed by twice weekly visits to my regular surgery for assessment and replacement of the dressings. Despite this I only took a couple of days off work.
My leg injury prevented me from riding my bike, much as I wanted to. In fact it was not until December that I managed any riding at all and when I did it resulted in further damage to the wound.
17th January 2024
I’m Clear!!!
I went to the surgery this morning and I’ve been discharged. It was a bit emotional, knowing I wouldn’t be seeing Tracey, the nurse who has done such a wonderful job getting me sorted, again. It has taken three weeks short of a year to heal.
Roll on my compensation claim! I see the medico-legal specialist next week which should get things moving.
Now I can start serious preparation for my trip.
I have bought an up-to-date GPS log to track my progress, and am planning to build up the difficulty of my rides. Getting harder as I get fitter. This will also help the healing process on my leg wound, where the skin is still quite thin and vulnerable.
24th January
Visit to the specialist.
This doctor is paid a considerable fee to produce a report on injuries and their impact on the life of the claimant for the information of the Court when assessing damages. Interestingly one of the first things he did was to take my photograph in his presence, it has been known for defendants to claim that he had not actually met the claimant, that the whole thing had been invented!
The interview was highly structured. He had clearly done a lot of background work with my medical notes. I had quite a few photos of the wounds at various stages of treatment which he found very interesting. As he put it these would make me a person, not just a file.
His parting comment was that I was likely to need plastic surgery to finish the treatment. This is particularly interesting since it would mean the skin would be much stronger and less likely to revert later on.
I left the meeting feeling much more positive about the whole situation.