'My independence is gone’ Preston wheelchair user’s life changed by minibus crash weeks after Great North Run

A Preston wheelchair user who completed the Great North Run just last month has revealed how a collision with a minibus has lost him his independence.

53-year-old Dave Cook has been an ambulatory wheelchair user for the past six years but his disability has not stopped him taking on gruelling physical challenges.

On September 13 he completed the AJ Bell Great North Run in one hour, 18 minutes and three seconds, raising £600 for Ashton Central Scouts, where he is a leader, and Wheel Power, a charity for wheelchair sports.

Dave says the experience was “absolutely amazing” and it spurred him on to sign up for the Preston Half Marathon which took place on September 27.

Three days before the event however, the father of three was using the cycle track down Liverpool Road to practice the route when he suffered a collision with a minibus.

“The whole sequence seemed to happen in slow motion but also fast”, Dave said: “I remember being curled up on all fours screaming in agony, everything hurt so much. I couldn’t do anything, I tried to lie down but the pain unbelievably got worse.”

Left: Dave Cook training for the Great North Run along Liverpool Road in May. Right: In hospital following a crash on that same road in September.

Dave was taken to hospital with 14 fractures to his ribs, a fractured vertebrae, dislocated shoulder and a bang to his head.

Whilst on the Major Trauma Ward, he suffered respiratory arrest and his lungs collapsed, leaving him on life support for three days.

“I vaguely remember screaming in pain on a hospital ward. I woke up later… in a darkened room with my wife telling me that I had been on life support for three days as my lungs had collapsed. She was very worried and that made me start to panic as I realised I was probably going to die. She said Jack, my son, was here. He told me that I looked like crap and I suddenly realised that I was ok because he was treating me like normal.”

Whilst in hospital, Dave spent two days learning how to stand and then sit in his chair, with the help of two other people- “two weeks previous I had completed The Great North Run in 1hr18mins3secs and I couldn’t even stand unaided!”, he said.

Despite his trauma, Dave still has praise for those who cared for him, he told us: “The staff in the Major Trauma ward and ICU are absolutely the most compassionate, professional and caring people that I have ever met and I literally owe them my life”.

Now that he’s out of hospital, Dave, who has had to step back from running his scout club, is having to rely on the care of his family.

The grandfather of one said: “I am unable to self propel in my wheelchair due to my dislocated shoulder, my independence at the moment is gone and I don’t know if I will get it all back.”

His wife Karen, who uses an electric wheelchair herself, does most things for him as well as everything around the house, but she’s living with the pain of psoriatic arthritis, so may not be able to do so for much longer.

Dave says the difference in his abilities before and after the crash “is horrific” but he’s trying to focus on what he can do, rather than what he can’t.

“I am trying to apply the attitude that I had to my training to just healing my body but it's tough. I tried to pick something off the floor yesterday and fell out of my chair onto the hard floor of the kitchen. I felt every fracture in my body very sharply. It was agony for a few minutes and it took everything that I had to just get back into my chair again”.

After the Preston Half Marathon, Dave had intended to do the Manchester full marathon but “the crash has stopped my sporting career dead in its tracks”, he said.

Dave says even using his wife’s electric wheelchair to head to the doctor this week “was a mental battle” - “I got to the doctors as a nervous wreck, I was constantly on the lookout for danger. It was extremely wearing and mentally so hard”.

He continued: “It [the crash] has done so much more damage in my life and my wife and daughter have really helped me through it so far. I have had help from other members of my family as well- they know who they are. Everyone has really pulled together to help me, it's left me feeling guilty as I can't do much for myself let alone anyone else.”

For now, Dave is focusing on getting his independence back and working through the trauma - but he does hope one day to race again.

Dave said: “When I close my eyes or go to sleep I see it all in slow motion or I wake with a jump, it's horrific and I just want the images to go away. I attended Andy's Man Club this week and I managed to talk about how it was affecting me. It's going to be a long time before I am physically or mentally fit again but I will get there. My ultimate goal is to race again but that’s a long way in my future. My immediate goal is to go to the coffee shop with my four old granddaughter. She gets an ice cream from next door, then we sit and chat for a while.”

Whilst Dave tries to regain his independence, the police are looking for witnesses to the crash.

A Lancashire Police spokesperson said: ““We were called at 5.03pm on 24th September to Liverpool Road, Penwortham, to a report of a collision. The emergency services attended and found that a bus had collided with an electric wheelchair.

“The man in the wheelchair suffered shoulder and back injuries and was taken to hospital. Anyone who witnessed the collision, please contact 101 – quoting log 1102 of 24th September.”