East Yorkshire crash victim's warning to drivers

Guy Preston suffered life-changing injuries after being knocked off his bike in 2010.

Published 18th Nov 2016

An East Yorkshire man who almost died after being knocked off his bike is calling on drivers to pay more care and attention.

25-year-old Guy Preston from Beverley was 18 when he was hit by a car while cycling along the A1079 in 2010.

He sustained multiple fractures and a brain injury which resulted in severe memory loss and will always suffer with the injuries he sustained.

He told Viking:

"My leg was broken in three places, two of the fractures were open and I had a lot of surgery to remove bone and bits of road inside my leg. There was discussion at one point about whether I'd be able to walk again or not and even today I still suffer constant pain in that leg and struggle to walk long distances.

"It's been really difficult and psychologically it's been harder on my family because I don't have much memory of the crash so I didn't really go through the stress at the same level that they did; they were wondering whether I was going to survive or whether or not I'd be able to walk or work and to what degree the brain injury would affect my life.

"I now suffer memory loss and I lost a lot of memory from before the crash aswell, so memories of my childhood and from school. I also still have to do a lot of gym work to try and build up muscles around the knee to ease the pain a little bit. I'm still unable to run which is quite disappointing really because a lot of the sports and activities that I used to do, I won't be able to do ever again. I'm likely to suffer arthiritis in later life and it's the little things that are quite upsetting like I'll never be able to play football with my children or anything like that, which is hard to take in.

"Prior to 2010, I don't have much memory at all to be honest. I don't remember any of my childhood or anything and it's definitely changed me as a person, I don't have much confidence now.

"I try to make the best of my second chance, I was very fortunate to escape with the injuries that I did and not die upon impact and I therefore try to live my life to as full extent as possible."

Guy told Viking that evidence suggest the driver was distracted behind the wheel when he hit him.

Over 80% of people in Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire say they fear speeding and distracted motorists the most in our region.

That's according to a new report but the road safety charity Brake.

They've now launched a new campaign and are asking people to sign a pledge to help stop the 5 deaths and over 60 serious injuries that happen every day on UK roads.