NEWS

13.1.07 Tom's crash

Well if you're going to crash & feel the pain, you might as well have a bit of glory. Moments after this still shot, it all went pear shaped & Tom ended up hugging a tree in the worst possible way.

Things had been going well on the Saturday freeride. Alex was showing the way as usual & mastering everything. Ollie on his little hard tail was amazing us (or me to be precise) at the way he could land the jumps which everyone else had 5-6" of suspension to soak up the landing. And Tom on this particular jump was doing it, but landing a little front first, so was practising to get it just right.

He seemed to jump & land OK but fractionally after landing his weight went back & the front wheel turned & control was lost. Unfortunately there was a tree in the way. After the sickening thud it all went quiet & nobody moved. When I reached Tom he was a little dazed, thank goodness he was wearing a full face helmet, but unable to move because of the pain in his shoulder. His main concern was that his wife was going to 'kill him' or words to that effect. We decided to call an ambulance & as luck would have it Sharon & Gary from 'Lets offroad' were leading one of their guided rides just past where we were. They slipped into 'Ray Mears' mode & provided GPS co- ordinates, foil blanket, bivouac sack & wooly hat to keep Tom nice & comfy. The ambulance arrived shortly after & Tom was bundled off to the local hospital for a check up. At present we believe there to be no broken bones but ligament damage, which a few weeks in a sling should resolve......So we can all watch the video without feeling too guilty!!!

Thanks To Gary & Sharon, Surrey ambulance & Tom who remained incredibly calm & stoic throughout, even managing to ask his wife to cancel a hair appointment for later that day! honest.

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