Triathlete 'waking up with nightmares' of horror crash

A triathlete faces never competing again after a hit-and-run driver left him with multiple serious injuries.

Mr Phil Williams said only his cycle helmet prevented him from being killed.

Competing in the Outlaw Triathlon, Mr Williams was cycling down a hill in Farnsfield at about 1.10pm on July 23 when a motorist in a green Nissan Micra pulled out and collided with him.

It happened at the A614 junction with Longland Lane and Baulker Lane.

Having crashed into the front of the car, the impact sent the 48-year-old over the bonnet, over the bollards of the central reservation and on to the other side of the road.

Mr Williams said he saw the car stop but when he began to move, it drove off.

An experienced marathon runner, Mr Williams was competing in his first full triathlon, having trained 15 to 20 hours each week in preparation.

He suffered a posterior dislocation of the shoulder — a rare instance in which the shoulder is dislocated backwards — a cracked elbow, an injury to his right wrist, cuts to both legs and hands, ligament damage and pain in his joints.

Mr Williams, who works at the Integrated Urgent Care Facility in Birmingham, said: “I am waking up with the nightmares of the crash.

“The first thing I do when I wake up is to re-live what happened.

“I am the world’s worst passenger in cars now. I think everything is going to hit me.

“I am going to have treatment for the physical injuries but I don’t know how long the mental ones will last.

“If the worst that happens to me is that I can never swim again properly then that is nothing. At least I’m alive.”

Mr Williams, of West Bridgford, said he felt lucky to have survived.

He estimated he was travelling at about 35mph at the time.

“The pedal of my bike hit the bumper of his car, which is lucky, because if my pedal had been lower then I would have been dragged under the car instead of going over it,” he said.

“There are other people who have suffered lesser injuries but aren’t here to tell the tale.

“The driver saw me as I was coming down the hill and stopped but then, after a chat with his passenger, he began to drive — it seemed like he thought he could make it.

“If he had waited two more seconds the crash wouldn’t have happened.

“I would like to ask him why he needed to get out of the junction so quickly.”

Mr Williams praised race organisers — including a marshall who used up a significant amount of clothes trying to mop up the blood — and paramedics.

He was taken to Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, for treatment but has now returned home.

A married father of three, Mr Williams said the crash had at least persuaded his eldest son, Harrison, to take more seriously the issue of cycle safety.

“He is 16 and trying to get him to wear a helmet used to prove impossible,” he said.

“The first thing he told me after this was that he was going to get one.”

Anyone with information should call Nottinghamshire Police on 101.