A TENNIS coach from Oxford fears he may never walk again after a horrific motorcycle collision.

Jozef Metelka, 23, was today set to undergo reconstructive surgery on his left foot, which was crushed when his motorbike collided with a car in Twelve Acre Drive, Abingdon, last week.

The Oxford Brookes University student, who is originally from Slovakia, is a qualified coach with the Lawn Tennis Association.

Last night, he remained at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford ahead of his major operation.

Depending on the outcome of a muscle and skin graft, surgeons will decide whether hisfoot can be saved or amputated.

Speaking from his hospital bed, Mr Metelka said: “The doctors believe I should be able to keep my foot, but we will not know until after the operation. I will be in bed for a long time and will not know if I will be able to walk again.

“There will be a lot of rehabilitation, but it will be completely up to me if I can walk again.

“While there is still a chance I could lose the foot I am worried and I know it is pretty bad, but I hope the surgery will go OK.

“I’m not in pain because I’m at a good hospital and have painkillers. But my foot is completely damaged.

“I can’t imagine how they are going to do it.

“I can’t walk at the moment. It is impossible. But I hope to one day soon.

“Everything hangs on the surgery.”

Mr Metelka, of Crescent Road, Cowley, is in his second year at Oxford Brookes University where he is studying for a sport and coaching studies. He is a leading light in the university’s tennis team.

He was riding his green Triumph motorcycle when it collided with a green Volks-wagen at the junction of Twelve Acre Drive and Mattock Way at around 7.30pm.

Police closed the road for about five hours to begin an investigation into the cause of the accident, but no one has been arrested.

Mr Metalka was in theatre for eight hours while doctors battled to save his foot.

Today, he faces a further 12 hours of surgery as doctors graft muscles from his back and skin on to his leg in a bid to reconstruct the crushed foot.

Mr Metalka added: “It was obvious what was going to happen but it all happened so fast I couldn’t do anything about it.

“They said when I arrived I was really lucky they saved my foot, but there is still a chance I could lose it.”

The student has coached at The Dragon School in Oxford, which counts former British tennis number one Tim Henman among its former pupils.

Mr Metelka was planning to spend the summer coaching at La Manga in Spain, a resort that has produced tennis stars like Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.

mwilkinson@oxfordmail.co.uk