A MOTORCYCLIST remains in hospital with life-changing injuries two months after he was involved in a serious crash.

Phil Bye (35), of Whitfield, near Allendale, is learning to walk again after he was critically injured when he was thrown off his bike and into a wall during a collision with a car at Thornley Gate, in Allendale, on April 15.

Since the smash, Phil has undergone a number of operations after it was discovered his spine was fractured, his hip and pelvis were shattered, his shoulder was broken, 13 ribs were fractured and his femur was broken.

Speaking from the major trauma rehabilitation ward at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary, after recently being transferred from the high dependency unit, Phil relived his ordeal.

He said: “Everybody is reminding me that I have very bad injuries.

“A lot of people don’t survive these kind of injuries.

“My pelvis and hip were shattered and before my surgery, the surgeons were saying they weren’t sure what they could do as it was so bad, but they seemed chuffed with how it went.

“The first month or so when I couldn’t move anything and I was in pain 24/7, I was just screaming out in pain.

“The one saving grace is that I didn’t get major spinal cord damage which would have left me paralysed.”

Phil spoke to the Hexham Courant this week to alert drivers that there will be more motorcyclists on the roads as the weather heats up.

In the short term, the plumber is looking to increase his steps walking while assisted by a frame before he can walk unaided and be allowed to leave hospital.

Phil said: “This has impacted my life as I won’t be able to do the line of work I did, and I will have to move house as I live in a first floor flat and won’t be able to get up the stairs.

“I’ve been told I will walk again, but it’s not going to be for a long while.”

A spokesman for Northumbria Police said inquiries into the crash were ongoing.