'Pothole crash put me in hospital on spinal board'

A motorcyclist who blames a pothole for a crash that caused him serious injury has described how the events are still deeply affecting him nearly two years later.

Simon Wilcox, from Cannock, Staffordshire, was riding to Ponderosa in Wales on 4 May 2024 when he crashed near the Gailey Interchange on the A5, close to junction 12 of the M6.

He said he was awaiting surgery to have nerves cut at the top of one leg, meaning he will permanently lose feeling in it.

Wilcox added that because of a flawed road surface, Highways England was ultimately responsible for what happened. The body said it could not comment on ongoing individual cases but stated safety was its priority.

Wilcox told the BBC that just five minutes into his journey he ended up on the ground after the front wheel of his motorcycle buckled from the impact with the pothole.

Immediately afterwards, he was put on a spinal board for nine hours and taken to New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton, where he stayed for five days.

"It's not only affected my life, and my daily life not being able to do stuff as I normally would, but it's affected my daughter's life because I can't go out and do the stuff she likes to do," he explained.

Medics, he said, had told him he may never be able to work again.

"[Doctors] didn't think they would be able to close the hole in my knee because it was that big," he said.

"Luckily, because I'm quite a skinny fella, they managed to pull the skin round to close it up."

He has since had numerous physio sessions as well as hydrotherapy and a further two operations.

He said he was in "constant pain" and was awaiting a date to be fixed for a fourth operation.

A spokesperson for National Highways, which operates and maintains major roads in England, said while they could not comment on the specifics of the events, they were sorry to hear about the injuries.

They said National Highways had a target of repairing the most serious defects within 24 hours of them being reported.

"Safety is our primary concern, and we set stringent standards for pothole repairs on our roads."

The organisation is responsible for about 4,500 miles of motorways and major A roads, carrying about a third of all traffic and about two-thirds of freight.

In a separate statement, it said: "For the past four years we have consistently met the national target, ensuring that over 90 per cent of our motorways and major A-roads remain in good condition."

The Department for Transport target for the amount of the national road network to be "maintained to a good condition" is 96 per cent.

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