Cycle News Thursday, January 27, 2005

CYCLE HELMET SAVED MY LIFE

A DAD-OF-FOUR yesterday told how he would have died if he hadn't been wearing his cycling helmet during a horrific road accident.

Hugh Dougherty, 54, was thrown into the air like a rag doll when a sports car ploughed into his bicycle.

The force of the impact threw him and his bike along the road and at one point Mr Dougherty feared the vehicle was going to run over him.

In the seconds that followed him being hit Mr Dougherty:

Was hurled on to the bonnet of the Porsche car.

Fell awkwardly with a thud on to the roadway.

Banged his head so hard on the road that his safety helmet cracked open.

Last night he said: "I'm lucky to be alive. That was a near-death experience for me.

"My cycling helmet saved my life. If I hadn't been wearing it I would have been killed."

Then he urged other cyclists: "Don't ever go out on your bike without wearing a safety helmet."

Now he plans to use the destroyed hard hat to show schoolchildren the importance of wearing one.

Keen biker Mr Dougherty, who is head of PR for East Renfrewshire Council, was cycling at night near his home in the Barrhead area when disaster happened.

His bike's lights were on and he was wearing special reflector bands when he was hit.

A badly-shaken Mr Dougherty said: "There was a mighty blow on my left side and the bike and I went flying.

"Everything seemed to happen in slow motion although it was over in a matter of seconds.

"I crashed on to the bonnet of the car, slid off, hit the road and landed on my back.

"It was a heavy blow and I knew my head was about to crash against the road surface and I couldn't do anything about it. I was helpless.

"Then I felt the impact at my head and heard a loud cracking noise. I just lay on the road for a few moments and to be honest I wasn't sure if I was alive or dead. It was all such a shock."

He went on: "I felt no pain and realised the cracking noise was my cycling helmet splitting and not my skull. There was no blood, no bones broken, so I got to my feet and walked about."

"Then for some strange reason I started taking statements from witnesses. Why I don't know, it must have been a shock reaction."

His £250 bike lay further along the road reduced to a mangled wreck.

Doctors were amazed that his injuries were only severe bruising and cuts to his back, neck and legs.

Mr Dougherty said: "Hospital staff said the cycling helmet saved my life.

"I want more people to know what happened to me and the importance of the cycling helmet. And I'll be campaigning for a change in the law and make it compulsory for all cyclists to wear safety helmets."

The driver of the sports car is being reported to the procurator fiscal.

(Source: http://icrenfrewshire.icnetwork.co.uk)