Post from Telegraph & Argos

Below is a clipping from the Telegraph & Argos, my mum set this up to cheer me up, it did.

Courageous bike crash victim ‘an inspiration’

 

The parents of a cyclist who lost her leg in a horror smash have spoken with pride of their “gutsy” daughter who has vowed to climb Ben Nevis for charity next year.

Catherine and Eddie Unsworth have put their 33-year-old daughter’s survival down to her sheer determination not to give up on life.

And they have thanked passers-by who were first on the scene of the collision, as well as police and paramedics who all “kept her hanging on.”

Suzie Unsworth had been cycling to work along Manchester Road, Bradford, at about 8.30am on Monday, April 30, when she was involved in a collision with an articulated lorry, ending up under its front wheels, and had to be airlifted to Leeds General Infirmary.

“There were two women in a car and a road worker who got to her first, holding her hand and talking to her. They kept her hanging on,” said Mrs Unsworth, 56.

Me hooked up

Workmates at Bradford Council’s Patients Transport Service in Shearbridge Road were so worried when she failed to turn up for work they arrived at her home in Wyke just as police walked up her path to try and contact family.

“She was always on the dot like clockwork, so when she didn’t appear they just knew something wasn’t right.

“They were able to give police our details and that got us to hospital just in time to see her before she went for surgery. She couldn’t speak, but when the surgeon told her she might lose her leg she mouthed to ask if everything else was okay and when he said yes, she gave him the thumbs up and she’s been fighting ever since,” said her mother.

“She likes to think she’s 5ft 2, but she’s nearer to 4ft 11. She’s just tiny, but she has masses of courage. She’s a gutsy girl and we are so proud of her. Everyone says she is an inspiration.”

Miss Unsworth has had four operations, including skin grafts, and had surgery on her crushed right foot, with surgeons managing to save her toes.

“She wasn’t going to lose them. She kept wiggling them for the surgeon to see, even when she was going under the anaesthetic. She is in good hands, her surgeon is a marvel,” said Mrs Unsworth. “She’s got a long recovery ahead of her, but she’ll do it. She’ll get a prosthetic and when she comes out of hospital she’ll still be the same little person, but just with a plastic leg. She won’t let it stop her from living her life to the full.”

Miss Unsworth, who has raised thousands of pounds for charities, was due to climb Ben Nevis, in Scotland, in June, but has now vowed to do it next year. “She’s so positive, so focused. It’s a miracle she’s alive, she’s our little miracle and we can’t thank enough everyone who made that happen.

“They are all our heroes,” said Mrs Unsworth.