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.
Stay-at-home mum Simone has shared a shocking scan photo showing a huge crack in her son's skull to show the extent of the damage and warn other cyclists of the importance of wearing a helmet.
Simone, from Longfield, Kent, said: "He was on his way to work with his brother and a friend. I don't let them go anywhere on their own so his brother and friend take him to work through the woods then come back together.
"They wear their helmets until their out of my sight and then it ends up on their handlebars apparently. They told me they were wearing them that day but they'd left them in their bedrooms. He came out of a field, hit a tree root. He said his brakes failed but he was flying through the air which is why they weren't working and he crashed into the tree.
"He landed on top of his bike, the peddle was in his back, which is what fractured his spine. His nose was bleeding, he was being sick and he was laying on his side. Bradley is one of those kids who would get up and carry on so when he didn't get up Harrison knew something wasn't right and called an ambulance.
"Harrison was a wreck. It proper scared him. He called an ambulance and two fire crews turned up. It took them two and a half hours to get him to the ambulance because they couldn't use a trolley with it being too bumpy and they didn't want to damage his spine so they had to use a bucket board. It was a nightmare.
"Harrison called me and said Bradley had hit a tree root, been thrown through the air and hit a tree then he put the phone down on me to call an ambulance. No one will understand what was going through my head. I felt sick, I was shaking.
"I didn't see him for hours because they were stabilising him, scanning him and doing emergency assessments. It was horrible. I saw him and thought he had a black eye and a bit of concussion but I heard the doctor talking about a fractured skull and I thought they must have mixed up the results. My heart sank. I'm surprised at how lucky he's been."
Mum-of-four Simone says she's always insisted that her children wear a helmet and on the day of the accident both sons had told her they were taking them with them before leaving without them.
Bradley's bike, which he'd bought just a few weeks before for £70, was written off as scrap and he's itching to get a new one. But Simone has put a ban on any cycling until after April's follow-up scan to make sure his skull has healed.
Simone says she hopes the accident has scared Bradley and Harrison into wearing their helmets. Simone said: "They told me they were going upstairs to get their helmets so I thought they had them but they left without them.
"He tried telling me he was wearing his helmet but he'd fractured his skull so he obviously hadn't. They then admitted they hadn't been wearing them. I can't repeat what I said when they told me, I went crazy at them, I've told them so many times they need to wear a helmet.
"When they were younger I made them wear them on their scooters and skates. I'm a safety freak. I'm surprised he's not the same. He's promised me he'll wear one and if I catch him without one I'll take his bike to the scrap man.
"I hope this has scared him enough to wear one. The doctors told him how silly he was and that he was very lucky to have those injuries without a helmet. They've all been told off. No helmet no wheels from now on. Even not moving on a bike, you can fall sideways, hit your head and not get back up. I want to get through to people that they need to wear a helmet."
