Richard Bell

I had a motorbike accident on August 3rd 1996. It was only me involved. I was riding around a roundabout under a motorway but I don't remember any of it. The first thing I do remember is waking up face down on the tarmac. When I opened my eyes I could see my lips were swollen and my nose was hurting. I've broken my nose before and at first I thought 'oh no I've done it again' but then I tried moving my legs, I couldn't and that's when I realised it was much more serious. I passed out again.

At hospital they discovered I'd broken the sixth vertebra in my neck. I had to go through a procedure to straighten my neck allowing the bone to heal in the correct position. A metal halo had to be bolted to my head. I remember waking up because I felt a pain on the side of my head, it was the consultant shaving my hair where one of the bolts would be screwed in. There were four bolts in my head, two at the front and one each side, they attached to the halo and that was connected to a wire and some weights so it all pulled my head straightening my neck. Every few days the consultant came to tighten the bolts with a spanner which was excruciating, it felt like my skull was being crushed.

Unfortunately the important damage was to my spinal cord and that is irreparable. I'm paralysed from the top of my chest down, I can move my arms but I can't use my hands.

I was a mechanic. I really enjoyed my job as cars and bikes were my passion but now I feel like it's been taken from me. Everything I was aiming for in my life I can mostly no longer have. All the dreams I wanted I now have to settle for what I'm able to have because of my position. If I got married I wanted to be able to look after my wife rather than her look after me. If I had children I wanted to teach them how to ride a bike or swim or simply kick a football with them. I wanted to decorate my own house and even do the gardening. Above all though I'll never be able to do what I loved most, enjoy driving a car and feeling the rush when riding a motorbike. I didn't know much about the consequences of a spinal injury before my accident, I thought it'll never happen to me.