A cyclist has described the moment he escaped serious injury after crashing on an epic 6,000-mile charity trek.
George Jones, from Colchester, was on a gruelling cycling challenge in Italy with friends Louis Blaxhill and Callum Craig when disaster struck.
Now the 23-year-old has spoken out about the ordeal – and is convinced his helmet which cracked into two pieces after his bike was involved in a crash with a car – saved his life.
Mr Jones suffered a deep wound to his elbow.
His injury, from which medics believe he will make a full recovery, means he needs time away from the race.
The team – called Broke Bike Mountain – had made it through France, Holland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Croatia before the crash happened.
The three former University of Exeter students, taking part in the race to raise money for mental health organisation Mind, shared a picture of the damage to the car involved on their Instagram account.
Another image showed damage to Mr Jones’ helmet.
“After 5,000 kilometres and making it to Italy in October, George was involved in a car crash in Verona,” said fellow rider Mr Blaxhill.
“He was lucky to escape with just a cracked helmet and a deep wound on his elbow, but he’s going to need some time away to make a full recovery.”
The 23-year-old’s injury means the team are now two men down – the third rider, Mr Craig, pulled out in late August after an existing knee injury flared up.
Therefore, Mr Blaxill will be riding solo for the next month – but could potentially reunite with Mr Craig if he recovers for the end of the ride in Seville on November 24.
They have set a fundraising target of £6,214 – a pound for each mile they have to ride before they finish in Spain.
He added: “Even if our journey doesn’t inspire everyone to donate, we hope it can get people talking about mental health and break some of the taboo around the subject.”
You can see more photos from the team on their Instagram @broke.bike.mountain.
Donations can be made at their JustGiving page.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here