"My bike helmet saved my life"

Wednesday 13 May 2020

A cyclist who was hit "head first" by an SUV-style vehicle over the weekend has thanked everyone who came to her aid after the incident - and has asked all road users to "wise up" following an increase in accidents and collisions.

Sarah Lucas and her partner Ben Sparrow were taken to hospital after colliding with a vehicle at the Mont Cuet Road/L'Ancresse Common junction.

Police are currently investigating the incident and are appealing for information from witnesses and anyone with dash cam footage to help identify the white "SUV-style" vehicle that hit the cyclists. 

The couple were coming down from the direction of the beach, heading south towards Vale Church, while the vehicle was exiting Mont Cuet Road.

"My partner managed to ditch his bike just before impact, but I unfortunately went head first into the car," said Miss Lucas. 

"I didn’t know how bad my injuries were but I knew I was bleeding a lot. Everyone around me just kicked into control mode - our bikes were collected, our belongings moved out of the road. I had an off duty doctor see to my safety and a lady gave her cardigan to stop my bleeding, someone started redirecting traffic, and multiple off duty nurses offered help to the doctor. It was pretty amazing.

Pictured: Emergency Services had a busy Bank Holiday weekend, attending a number of incidents and making 16 arrests.

"I reached out to the powers of Facebook as I really wanted to thank and find the lady who offered her clothing to stop my bleeding, to thank the doctor who moved me to safety and remained with me until the ambulance arrived, the various cyclists that came past and offered help, and the general public who kept traffic moving until the police and ambulance arrived."

She is in no doubt that her cycle helmet saved her life.

"What I would like to say is how important it is for any cyclist to wear the appropriate head gear, helmet and sunglasses. Although the glasses may have caused me cuts and bruises, they without a doubt saved my eye and the helmet without a doubt saved my life."

In recent weeks, Miss Lucas has seen a lot of cyclists on the roads without a helmet and wearing inappropriate clothing, and feels that road users have become a bit too lax during the lockdown. 

"Whilst it is a great time to be cycling around our beautiful island, I really would encourage parents to think about how safe it is to cycle with children on the roads at the moment, in a bike seat or independently on their own little bikes. I feel cars just aren’t looking out for us cyclists enough, now more than ever.

"Drivers, cyclists and pedestrians have all become a little too relaxed since the lockdown, drivers are not looking out for other road users, some are speeding, some are in the middle of the road.

"Cyclists have increased on the roads since the lockdown as a great form of daily exercise but the ones we see without appropriate head protection just make us cringe.

Pictured: Miss Lucas praised St John for their care and support after the collision.

"Pedestrians are wandering on and off pavements without checking for traffic first. We all need to wise up a little as life returns to a new 'normal'.

"On the positive side, despite covid fear and the social distancing rules, the rapid response from the public at the scene was amazing."

She was effusive as well about the support and care she received from the Emergency Department and St John's Ambulance: "I would urge anyone to support St John's Ambulance online, you just never know when you may need them, and when you do they are worth every penny, trust me!"

Despite her concerns about road safety failures in recent weeks, Miss Lucas's prevailing outlook of the incident is one of gratitude.

"Accidents can happen and I'll be just fine in time thankfully but its left me feeling really proud of our island and I really felt the #guernseytogether vibe in very distressing times [on Sunday]."