Pottering round clearing up a recent building site I heard a 'Hello' form the direction of the Sidings. I looked round to see the snazziest of the wheeled and battery powered tricycles you ever did see:
"I heard you had an accident" said the rider. The rider was a Giggleswick near-neighbour who turned out to be a fellow broken-neck survivor. We spent a delightful half hour comparing war-stories. We had met when he visited the water tower some years ago. He was well known locally as he had a light aircraft, based on a grass airfield at Oxenhope near Keighley and frequently flew over Settle. He had agreed then to fly me over the tower to have a look at it from above. That never came about because his aircraft crashed on landing at Oxenhope in 2014 when its nose wheel dug in to soft ground and the aircraft flipped over. He had broken his neck and fuel was leaking onto him when residents of a nearby caravan park raced to rescue him and his passenger.
Fortunately for them both, a fireman who was flying behind them had witnessed the crash and suspecting spinal injuries, intervened, probably saving two lives.
My Giggleswick friend had indeed broken his neck and he and his passenger were airlifted to the Leeds General Infirmary where his C3 fracture had lengthy treatment very similar to mine. He too now has a neck full of titanium but, though avoiding total paralysis, is quite seriously and permanently disabled - hence £6,000's worth of electric tricycle.
Once again I thank my lucky stars. And he his.
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