A teen who lied to his 'safety freak' mum that he was wearing his helmet before a horror bicycle crash is 'lucky' to be alive - as a harrowing image shows a giant fracture almost splitting his skull. Bradley Thompson, 17, had been peddling to work as a chef at the local pub in Longfield, Kent, in September when he was thrown from his bike when he hit a tree root.
The teen promised mum Simone, 40, that he would wear his helmet but left it in his bedroom when he set off with his brother Harrison, 15. Bradley's wheel hit a tree root as they were taking a short cut through the woods and he was catapulted into a second tree leaving him with a bleed on the brain, fractured skull, cracked ribs and a fractured spine.
Harrison called an ambulance and Bradley was stabilised by medics before firefighters arrived to carefully carry him out of the woods without causing further damage to his spine which took over two hours. He was rushed to the major trauma unit at Farnborough Hospital where he spent four days recovering and doctors told him he was lucky that he didn't need emergency surgery.
