Biker never wants to ride again as he recovers two years after crash
| Published date | 25 April 2024 |
| Publication title | WalesOnline (Wales) |
One of his teeth came loose a few days after the crash but with his jaw wired shut Callum was unable to open his mouth so had no choice but to swallow it. Two years later Callum still has to wear a balaclava when the temperature drops below freezing otherwise his face aches and he cannot enjoy fizzy drinks or foods like salt and vinegar crisps as they make his tongue burn where he bit through it.
Callum was awarded upwards of £100,000 after taking legal action against the van driver who cut him off and has said he will never buy a motorbike again. “I saw the car coming towards me and I thought… I’m dead,” Callum told PA Real Life.
“I have never felt that bad in my life. My tooth came out while my jaw was wired shut but I had no choice but to swallow it – it was minging.
“I’m never riding a motorbike again.”
Asked whether he has a message for van drivers, Callum said “pay attention”. Callum has always loved “anything with an engine” from cars to jet skis – and has been riding motorbikes since he was about 10 years old, before purchasing his 125cc Yamaha in September 2021.
But a routine trip on the motorcycle to Leigh-on-Sea at around 7.35am on April 8 2022 to drop off some keys for work would change Callum’s life forever. Without warning a van cut across Callum’s path and collided with him, sending him hurtling towards a parked car on the side of the road.
He struck the vehicle with such force and speed that it briefly lifted the car off the ground. “There was nothing I could do, he just cut me up, crushing my knee and foot and then I was flying in the air,” he said.
“I can’t believe I survived. Someone ran over to me and asked if I was dead. I was in total shock.”
Callum knew the situation was really serious when he removed his helmet and blood with clotted lumps started pouring down his face.
“I tried to get up and walk but fell back down,” he said. “I could feel myself bleeding in my helmet and my mouth and when I took it off there was a gush of blood, normal and clotted lumps so I knew something serious had happened. I was in so much pain.
“There were clotted chunks...
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