A CYCLIST who ‘miraculously’ survived a horrific crash will ride 1,000 miles for the lifesavers who flew to his rescue.

Rupert Griffin is back on his bike despite a cycling accident four years ago, in which he smashed with an oncoming car and suffered a head injury, collapsed lung, broken legs and pelvis, cracked ribs, brain bleed and slipped into a 10-day coma.

The 47-year-old credits Thames Valley Air Ambulance and first response from the driver of the car, who happened to be medically-trained, for bringing him back from the brink of death.

Oxford business owner Mr Griffin, who lives in St Clement’s, is now cycling the length of the country to fundraise for the air ambulance.

The keen cyclist, who has no memory of the crash, said: “I know enough about what happened afterwards to be sure that my survival and recovery is little short of miraculous.

“I’m unbelievably lucky just to be alive. I was scraped off the road by MJ Slabbert, a top-grade anaesthesiologist with the air ambulance, who gave me stuff that scrambles your memory.

“I’m completely spared the recollection of the excruciating pain I must have felt and the post-traumatic stress – if I could still remember the collision I would have had to have months of therapy and probably would have never got back on my bike again.

“The air ambulance carries much more sophisticated equipment and higher grade of skill and experience [than land ambulances], with top-notch people who take the hospital out into the field in a way that would otherwise be impossible.”

Mr Griffin has decades of long-distance cycling experience and had never crashed before the collision, which happened on August 23, 2014, in Brill in Buckinghamshire.

He had been cycling from Oxford to Cambridge to join his father on his 79th birthday, a route he was familiar with, and admits failing to stop at a give-way junction.

He said: “I can’t explain why, I have enough experience to know you don’t just plough onto a junction. I honestly have no idea what happened.

“It was extraordinary the way the stars lined up: in the only road traffic accident I’ve had in a lifetime, the driver happened to be a trauma nurse.

“She basically kept me alive for the few minutes it took for the helicopter to come.

“I am hugely grateful to her and to the air ambulance for saving my life and I regret the disturbance and upset this accident must have caused in her [the driver's] life.”

The air ambulance crew performed roadside surgery and airlifted Mr Griffin to the John Radcliffe Hospital, where he woke up almost two weeks later and was shocked to learn what had happened.

Mr Griffin, who helped to found East Oxford Farmers' and Community Market, now runs a small business making apple juice called Tiddly Pommes.

He said the crash was an important life event and he felt medical staff, including at the hospital, ‘handled it beautifully’.

He was back on his bike even before he could walk again and remembers carefully cycling around Oxford on Christmas Eve, 2014, delivering his cards.

On Sunday he set out on a solo cycle from the southern tip of the country to the very top, from Lands End in Cornwall to John o’ Groats in Scotland.

He completed the same ride in 1991 with his father, on the same bike that was wrecked during the crash.

He hopes the sponsored cycle, which should take several weeks, will raise £5,000 for the Thames Valley Air Ambulance.

The air ambulance, which is based at RAF Benson, relies on donations to run its lifesaving service across Oxfordshire and surrounding counties.

To donate, visit justgiving.com/fundraising/rupert-griffin.

HELMET SAFETY

On the morning of the fateful day of the crash, Mr Griffin set out from his Oxford home without a helmet.

A while into the journey he remembered he had forgotten to put it on, and questioned whether to bother turning back or just take the risk.

He said: "It would have been so easy just to think 'nothing's ever happened before' and not to have turned back."

His house keys were buried in a bag but after a few moments considering it, he decided it was worth the extra journey time and effort to retrieve the lifesaving piece of headgear.

Had he have made the wrong decision that morning and opted to ride on, he realises he might not still be here today.

Mr Griffin's helmet protected him from the initial impact of the crash but it was severely damaged in the process, and he still suffered a head injury and a bleed on the brain.

But he said: "I was right on the edge of having a critical brain injury. The helmet did its job."

Last year the Oxford Mail launched a safety campaign to encourage more cyclists to wear helmets and protect their heads.

Since then, readers have been able to take advantage of a special deal in support of the campaign, to buy a helmet made by Witney-based Oxford Products for just £5.

Find a form in today's edition of the paper to claim your helmet.