Family members gathered in Eastbourne to celebrate a 60th birthday, with relatives travelling from Germany. The rider had obtained a motorbike licence at 22 and was inspired by a father who loved motorbikes. Midday travel to the father's house led to a sudden accident: a pigeon flew into an open helmet, disturbing the rider and causing a veer into a parked Volvo. The rider was thrown, struck the ground, and skidded into a kerb. Family members with medical training assessed severe injuries, noting dilated pupils and heavy bleeding. An ambulance arrived and paramedics initially refused to remove the helmet.
"Birthdays are always a big deal in my family we love any excuse to spend time together. My dad's 60th, in May last year, was a particularly special one, as we had family travelling from Germany to Eastbourne, in East Sussex, to celebrate. I spent the first part of the morning with my sisters at my mum's nearby. She has a birthday in the same week, so we were celebrating hers first."
"As I drove down my dad's road, just seconds away from his house, a pigeon suddenly flew into my open helmet. I only know this from CCTV footage captured by a neighbour's door cam. Within a fraction of a second, I'd turned my head, flustered by the bird, and veered straight into a parked Volvo. I started doing cartwheels in the air, smacking my head on the ground when I landed and skidded down the road into a kerb."
"My mum and two sisters arrived a couple of minutes after, to find bike parts scattered along the road and me lying motionless. My younger sister was screaming and crying, and sprinted to get my dad. Luckily, a lot of my family have medical training: my dad is a trauma and army doctor, my older sister is a hospital doctor and my mum a GP."
Read at www.theguardian.com
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