The day that CHANGED OUR LIVES

When a bike ride ended in horror, Sarah Jones helped her husband through the dark days ahead

- ALICE GREBOT

It was June 2019 and one of those temperamental summer days, but my husband Matt and I were keen cyclists so we weren't put off by a bit of rain. We met up with our cycling friends and were soon whizzing down country lanes.

Matt pulled ahead and we rode down a hill towards a bend. Suddenly, I heard an almighty crash and the sickening sound of crunching metal. I thought two cars had collided - but as I turned the bend, I saw Matt lying face down in the road, his bike alongside him and a stopped car from the other direction.

Screaming, I dropped my bike and ran to him. I felt so helpless as I crouched over him. He was breathing, but I had no concept of how badly he was injured.

We think his front wheel slipped on the wet road and he lost control of the bike. The woman driving the car was a retired doctor and she rang 999 immediately. All I remember is the sound of the air ambulance, the whir of the helicopter blades cutting through the still air.

Paramedics put Matt into an induced coma and the helicopter flew him to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, where he had a CT scan to assess his injuries.

I struggled to process the doctors' words as they explained he had a broken neck, broken back, suspected brain bleed, multiple broken bones and nerve damage to the spinal cord. Specifically, he had a traumatic brachial plexus injury, which meant he'd lost the feeling and use of his left arm.

Matt had broken almost every bone on the left side of his body. I honestly don't know how I remained standing as I was engulfed by shock, grief and fear.

Terrifying wait