Bike crash could have killed me

GUERNSEY cyclist Terry Wright recalled yesterday how he thought he was going to die in the first Island Games competition. Despite ploughing headfirst through the rear windscreen of a car at 35mph, Mr Wright got back on his bike to finish the 27-mile men's individual time trial. The five-man team won bronze in the event yesterday morning. Mr Wright sustained multiple minor injuries in the accident just before the finish line, which led to calls for a safety review on the circuit. It happened as Island FM's radio car was being marshalled near the junction between La Route du Longfrie and La Route de la Tourelle, marring the first event of the Games. Mr Wright was recovering at home yesterday after what he described as his brush with death. 'I remember seeing the cars and thinking, "Christ, I'm dead",' said Guernsey's prison governor. 'I just remember slamming the brakes on and, afterwards, when I was lying in the road, thinking "what has happened?".' Mr Wright said that even though he had difficulty breathing straight after the crash, his adrenaline kicked in and he tried to get up and back on his bike. Although spectators attempted to stop him, Mr Wright managed to finish the last 100 metres before being taken to hospital by ambulance. 'My heart was probably beating at around 175 beats per minute and people were trying to keep me down, but I wasn't having that, I wanted to finish,' he said. His extraordinary effort was rewarded when his four teammates and manager Dave Hobson turned up at the hospital to hand over his bronze for the team event. He was treated for minor abrasions to his lower legs and shoulders and a gash in his head was glued at the PEH accident and emergency department. Mr Wright estimated that before the accident he was on target to beat his personal best on that course. Mr Hobson said, however, that it had not cost the team a silver medal and paid tribute to Mr Wright's dedication to his sport and the team. 'He was so focused on this event and he had one thing on his mind. 'He didn't let us or himself down and it just proves that the adrenaline was running.' The manager, who did not see the incident, said Mr Wright had spent the last year training specifically for the Games. A spectator who has about six feet away from the incident said he saw Mr Wright's head go through the back window. 'I thought he was dead,' he said. Mr Wright is an experienced member of the five-strong men's team and this was his third appearance in the Island Games. The accident is likely to have finished his participation for the rest of the week, with Mr Wright doubtful to recover enough to take part in Wednesday's men's time trial or Friday's Town criterium events.