A cyclist was left with a broken cheekbone when he was involved in a high-speed crash with a squirrel in West Yorkshire – the poor animal faring worse, however, as it did not survive the collision.
Tim Egerton, aged 58, was riding downhill at a speed approaching 35mph when he hit the squirrel on Providence Hill, Oakworth, near Keighley, reports MailOnline.
He cannot remember the crash, which left him with two fractures to his cheekbone which required surgery at Airedale General , with a titanium plate inserted.
“I was going down the hill at 30 to 35mph when a squirrel suddenly ran out,” he said.
“I went over my handle bars and hit the road with my face.”
He was taken by ambulance to Airedale General Hospital, West Yorkshire, where surgeons repaired his damaged cheek bone with a titanium plate.
“The surgeon said that if I’d not been wearing a helmet my injuries would have been much worse,” he continued.
“I have no recollection of the accident, but people who came to help me took photos of the dead squirrel in the road and I found grey fur trapped between my tyre and wheel rim.
“The Yorkshire Air Ambulance landed to pick me up, but I went to hospital in a road ambulance, I was disappointed I didn’t get a go in the helicopter,” he added.
“I’m so grateful for all the help people gave me and I can’t thank them enough for their kindness.
“Of all my years of cycling it is a tangle with a squirrel that has caused me my most serious accident.”
Many of the comments on the MailOnline are predictably anti-cycling, though in answer to one of the first questions any cyclist will ask another rider involved in a crash, Tim confirmed that his £3,500 Ridley bike survived the crash unscathed.
28 thoughts on “Cyclist breaks cheekbone in high-speed crash with squirrel”
Helmets.
Helmets.
The Daily Mail.
Squirrels!
Strap yourselves in lads, this is about to go off.
I might need a lay down….
I might need a lay down…. ring me when this thread cools down
Rich_cb wrote:
Pru, it’s kicking orf!
Little bastard things. I had
Little bastard things. I had one run at me from the side hit the spokes and ended up clinging on to the tire as I went over it many times. Had to finish the fecker off with the Sidis. Reds not bastard things obv.
.
.
Finally.
Finally.
I was beginning to think that you’d missed this one.
I was sent this link, and
I was sent this link, and unfortunately went on Mail Online to read the story. the comments I read, before giving up were predictably unsurprising. All the usual chants, shouldn’t be on the road, don’t pay road tax, road scum etc, etc, etc. It was very unsettling reading. All we want to do is ride our bikes, why do so many others hate us for enjoying one of life’s simple pleasures?
“And what was the speed limit
“And what was the speed limit where he crashed? These old men on bikes ride like lunatics with no regard for the rules of the road. A red light means stop not carry on through!”
“He looks the spit of Captain Haddock out of Tin Tin! “
“He should be arrested for speeding!”
“not content with riding at pedestrians now they are after endangered animals.”
“He wouldn’t have killed a polar bear if he hit it at 35mph on his bike I’ll wager.”
Nurse, nurse !!
Thank you for reading it so I
Thank you for reading it so I don’t have to…
hirsute wrote:
Fair enough comment – after all, it must’ve been the cyclist at fault, because a squirrel would always stop, look, and listen, and never cross against the lights.
mdavidford wrote:
Ah, but that’s a red squirrel, not a grey!
biker phil wrote:
I’m with the Daily Mail readers on this one, squirrels should be forced to pay road tax and wear high-viz.
ChrisB200SX wrote:
They also should have to wear helmets and be fitted with a bell for alerting the unwary.
Mind you, my whippet seems to spot squirrels from a distance even without their wearing hi viz.
“The grey squirrel is
“The grey squirrel is classified as an invasive non-native species”
wildlifetrust.org
surprised The daily Mule readers don’t want them all deported
The Heil is currently
The Heil is currently obsessing over re-introduced red kites attempting to carry off custard cream toting toddlers in Henley (I kid you not…)
(The population in the Chilterns is of Spanish origin)
There are loads of them and I
There are loads of them and I think they are magnificent.
The Guardians take is funny
The Guardians take is funny and tongue in cheek.
We call them ‘murder
We call them ‘murder squirrels’, we must have had two serious accidents that I can think of and it seems, weekly close calls on club runs. One poor bloke is genuinely petrified of the blighters (justified after the state of him the last collision).
It’s Badgers which scare me the most.. you hit one of those you know about it, I’ll never forget my close call with one, in the dark, flat out at the end of a ‘bash’, skid, wobble, swerve, missed the badger but it seemed to leave a badger stripe in my bib shorts. Others in the club haven’t been so lucky.
Over the years I’ve had both
Over the years I’ve had both a squirrel and rabbit shoot across scuttle across the road inches in front of me. Been chased by a fox (usually they run the other way). Been stuka’d by a magpie and gull. One occasion a Roe deer leapt out of a field, over the road and into the next field.
A mate sliced a squirrel neatly in two with his flat aero spokes!!!
I had one once somehow manage
I had one once somehow manage to run between my wheels, without being hit by the pedals or BB and scuttle off into the distance, no doubt chuckling into his nuts. Occupational hazard around here
He cannot remember the crash
He cannot remember the crash
“I was going down the hill at 30 to 35mph when a squirrel suddenly ran out,” he said.
“I went over my handle bars and hit the road with my face.”
Sounds like he remembered it pretty well. Or was it recorded?
Strava; a recontruction of
Strava; a recontruction of events based on the evidence and outcome.
Imagine how dangerous the
Imagine how dangerous the little bastards could be.
This is an interesting story
This is an interesting story because of the time of year- in my experience, squirrels are benign until late summer – autumn time when they become for more adventurous in their forays onto the tarmac.
To come a cropper in May simply smacks of incompetence.
Since you say they are benign
Since you say they are benign until late summer, all the more reason not to expect them so your conclusion is in line with many of your conclusions on here.
Nice bit of victim blaming though.
hirsute wrote:
I can only assume he was riding around with a big bag of nuts in his saddle bag!
Nigel Garrage wrote:
Since you say they are benign until late summer, all the more reason not to expect them so your conclusion is in line with many of your conclusions on here.
Nice bit of victim blaming though.
— Nigel Garrage I can only assume he was riding around with a big bag of nuts in his saddle bag!— hirsute
Is that a euphemism? 😉
Same thing happened to a
Same thing happened to a friend on a ride.
But, having 36 spokes and the squirrel hitting the rear caused only a very stunned little squirrel.
It came around after about 5 minutes and ran off.
Sorry for the injuries. Lost a friend and coworker to head injuries (with helmet worn) to a deer collision on an urban descent.
RIP Fred.
Be careful out there.