A man could only be recognised by his nose after being crushed by a horse while driving to work. Ian Tilston, 34, was driving on the M56 from Hawarden, north Wales, to Nantwich when a horse catapulted onto his car as he drove down the slip road.
The horse had escaped from a nearby field and as Ian exited junction 10, a car in front of him hit the horse. The horse then hit the 34-year-old’s car, crushing him and his car, the Echo reports. Ian received life-saving brain surgery at Salford Royal Hospital and a number of other procedures, one of which involved reconstructing his face.
"He was put in an induced coma for a few weeks and when he woke up they moved him to The Walton Centre," said his brother, Adam Tilston, to the Echo, more than a year on from the accident which occurred on January 10, 2022.
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Adam added: "He had a number of surgeries and they even rebuilt his face. His entire face was crushed in the crash and he had to have a piece of his skull removed for surgery. He looked an absolute mess after the accident and we only knew it was him through his nose.
"He's been at the Walton Centre for a year now. He's had life-changing injuries as a result of this. He's lost his vision and can't walk so he needs 24-hour care.
"They're looking to discharge him but we need somewhere for him to go. We're trying to transform our mum's house now. We want him home to be able to enjoy some quality of life.
"We just want to get something in place for him. Police at the time said it was a freak accident and the fences were in fine condition but horses had since escaped."
Adam, a dad of one, explained that Ian's bleed on the brain was the worst that Salford Royal Hospital had seen. Since the accident, Ian is now able to partially move his right arm - which they didn't think would be possible a year ago. But despite the progress, Adam says that his younger brother is still cognitively challenged as a result of his injuries and has days where he thinks it's 2010.
Speaking about that life-changing day, Adam said: "I was in work and around 9.30am my grandad rang me, it was the first time in my life I'd heard him cry. I thought the worst and thought he had died.
"I went to see my grandparents and we waited for news. Since then our entire lives have changed. At the start, we were preparing our lives for the worst.
"We could only recognise him through his nose. The turning point was when he was in ICU and he put his thumbs up to us."
The family are now raising money to try and pay for the work to be done at their mum's home in order for Ian to be discharged from The Walton Centre. For more information or to donate, visit their GoFundMe page here.
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