A cyclist who was seriously injured while riding his mountain bike has reunited with the pilot who flew him to hospital exactly six years later.
Gijs Verkerk, 52, from The Hague, in the Netherlands, was taking part in the coast to coast cycle ride, starting in Whitehaven, when the front wheel of his bike got stuck in a hole, causing him to fall over his handlebars and land badly on his arms and chest.
Recalling the aftermath, he said: “As I was lying down on the ground, fully conscious, I noticed that I could not feel or move my body and limbs from the neck down. This scared me a lot as I believed I had paraplegia and would be paralysed for the rest of my life.
“When one of my friends came down to help me, he first made some typical jokes about falling off my bike, but that quickly turned around when I explained I could not move my limbs.”
Two of his friends went to get help as their mobile phones couldn’t get a signal, while his other two friends stayed by his side.
He said: “After a while, Robin, who stayed with me the whole time told me that he saw one of my feet moving. I cannot express how much of a relief that was, as that made me realise I might be able to recover from my injuries.”
Mr Verkerk sustained two broken wrists, a broken chest bone, some broken ribs, his neck broken in two places and spinal injuries which caused paralysis.
Both the critical care team from the Great North Air Ambulance Service and the Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team attended the scene of the incident, which happened on 16 May 2019.
He said: “I believe John the doctor was taking the lead. He was extremely clear and very comforting. I remember that within a few moments I felt in safe hands and could really let go of my anxieties.”
Dr John Ferris and paramedic Sarah Graham from GNAAS administered ketamine to sedate Mr Verkerk so they could pull both of his wrists straight and then performed spinal mobilisation to treat his neck pain.
With the help of the mountain rescue team, Mr Verkerk was carried approximately 250m to the waiting helicopter which transported him to Royal Preston Hospital.
He spent two weeks in hospital in the UK where he had surgery on both wrists and was stabilised for seven days to manage his spinal injury and fitted with a corset to fix and support his neck.
He was then transferred to a hospital in his home city for another week before spending a further ten weeks in a rehabilitation centre.
Mr Verkerk said: “After a year I was able to do most normal things, but it was only after four years that I felt relieved from my limitations. For example, it took a long time to be able to completely flex my neck and strengthen my left shoulder to what it was.”
Mr Verkerk recently returned to the UK with his friend Robin to complete the coast to coast cycle ride he never got to finish and reunited with some of the people he met six years ago.
He said: “We started with the same driver, Howard, taking us from Newcastle to Whitehaven. He and his wife were still wondering what had happened to me after he picked up my friends at the end of that trip having heard that I was brought to hospital.
“We also met five members of the Cockermouth Mountain Rescue team in Loweswater, which was a very grateful moment too. They vividly remembered my incident and were also pleased to hear back from me that I have fully recovered.”
During the trip they also called into GNAAS’ base in Langwathby where pilot Phil Lambert, who airlifted him to hospital, was on shift.
He said: “It was really special for us to meet up with Phil and see the operations. We shared pictures from that day and Phil and Robin remembered talking to each other about how strange it was for my accident to happen in a relatively flat area, and not on the downhill slope.
“I believe that my evacuation by helicopter and the medical attention I got so quickly after the accident has contributed a lot to my recovery. It really made a difference.”
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