Music Teacher paralysed for life after swerving on his motorbike to avoid group of cyclists
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Start Your Claim NowOn 11th June 2017, Chris Toon was riding his motorcycle along Ashby Road in Leicestershire when he lost control of the bike and was forced to swerve sharply to avoid crashing into a group of cyclists.
The accident tragically left the popular music teacher paralysed for life.
Speaking of his ordeal, Mr Toon attempted to slow down whilst approaching a blind bend but his back wheel skidded and fishtailed. With the back of his motorbike swinging out of control, the teacher was left face-to-face with a dozen oncoming cyclists.
He made a split-second decision to sharply swerve to avoid hurting anyone else:
“I flung myself into the ditch and my bike actually went over the hedge.”
Thrown off his bike, Mr Toon fell some 30ft, hitting trees and rocks on his way down. He suffered over 30 broken bones, two punctured lungs and a serious spinal injury that’s left him paralysed from the chest down for the rest of his life.
“I actually felt my back snap I was falling down. I just remember the cyclists come to help me and saying thank you that I chose not to crash into them.”
The music teacher was airlifted to hospital where he underwent extensive spinal surgery. Having had 8 pins and two metal rods inserted in his back, he will need to stay at the Sheffield Spinal Rehabilitation Unit for a few months to recuperate.
The 32-year-old’s decision to sacrifice himself over injuring the cyclists has inspired people to raise money for him to buy a specialist electric wheelchair. He teaches children to play the saxophone, clarinet and flute at Nottingham High School where a colleague set up the fundraiser and has smashed their target of £15,000 twice over.
For Chris Toon, the decision to swerve was without hesitation. Speaking of the alternative, he said he would never forgive himself:
“I’d be in a different place if I had hit [the cyclists]. I could have killed two or three of them, I could have ploughed through them all.”
The brave teacher has come to terms with the fact that, at the young age of 32, he will never walk again, let alone ride a motorcycle.
Image Credit: http://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/hero-nottingham-teachers-split-second-254178
