Fate of farmer hit by lorry on A5 shown in new documentary
Farmer Chris Jones had to make a split second decision when one of his cows ran out onto a main road near Welshpool.
Seeing a lorry coming along the A5, he just managed to get the animal out of the way then jumped onto his quad bike to get himself to safety.
But he was unable to move the bike in time and was hit by the oncoming truck.
His fate is captured in the latest episode of documentary Critical Condition aired on Channel 5 at 9pm tonight.
The show charts the life and death decisions of the clinical teams at the major trauma centre of the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust.
In the fifth episode Mr Jones is flown to the Royal Stoke University Hospital by air ambulance after the accident.
Today the 55-year-old said there would be nowhere else he would want to be treated in the UK after emergency teams battled to establish the extent of his injuries.
He said: “It was the most horrific day with torrential rain and one of the cows got out. I could see the lorry coming and just wanted to get it out of the way.
"I managed it and then jumped on the quad bike to move out of the way. But because it was so wet it just kept spinning and I was hit by the lorry.”
The Welshpool farmer was knocked out by the impact with the lorry and suffered injuries to both sides of his head as well as a collapsed lung.
He said: “Once I was in hospital I was quite frightened about not being able to breathe but once my lung was inflated again, I felt much better.
"The care was fantastic from everyone and there is absolutely nowhere in the country you would want to go or need to be if you are involved in any kind of accident.”
The keen motorcyclist has not let the accident stop him and still regularly goes out on his motorbike as well as uses the quad bike when he’s out in the fields.
“I really believe that when your time is up, your time is up and people have fared a lot worse than me in much smaller accidents. I was exceptionally lucky and have to look on the bright side because I am still here,” he said.
As a specialist major trauma centre, the Royal Stoke treats patients from across rural mid and North Wales.
Tonight's episode also features a patient who has been trampled by a cow.
Trauma Team Leader Dr Chris Pickering also deals with a patient who has been stabbed multiple times and must quickly work out the trajectory of the knives used and how severe the internal injuries are.
A 38-year-old mother who has had a stroke in her sleep is airlifted to Royal Stoke features too highlighting the dangers of stroke among young people.
