10:39AM, Wed Jun 20, 2012

Motorcyclist Keith Talbot Expected To Make Full Recovery From Horror Smash

By Phil Forster and Adrian Hogg Location: Newcastle

A motorcyclist has been described as the luckiest man alive after surviving a horror smash.

Keith Talbot suffered heart damage, a smashed pelvis, liver damage, broken ribs and sternum and other injuries when his trike was in a head-on collision with a car.

An off-duty paramedic who was passing the scene administered emergency first aid before Mr Talbot was flown by air ambulance to Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary. However the 43-year-old from Ashington has no recollection of the incident.

"I was riding on a lovely sunny day from Alnwick to Rothbury and the next thing I new I was waking up five days later in intensive care with lots of tubes sticking out of me," said Mr Talbot, who does artwork for computer games.

"The only thing I know was I crashed head-on into a car. The type of bike it was with a low seat and a high tank I think I pretty much smashed my body through the tank."

He was doubly lucky to survive the accident, on May 6, as, during the operation on his other injuries, doctors spotted a tear in his aorta, which is often fatal and frequently only spotted in a post mortem.

Mr Talbot said he was fortunate not to have suffered any brain or spinal damage, and is confident of making a full recovery.

"Most of my body has now recovered. Once my pelvis is repaired it is just a matter of getting the physiotherapy to my legs to walk again. There is no underlying damage to my legs so it should be OK."