I was riding home down the winding backroads after an event at Goodwood race track.

On a tight left-hand bend (A285 before Duncton high street) a car coming the other way decided to cut the corner. I lost the front wheel in preference to straightening up under braking and slide into and under the front of the vehicle travelling about 30mph the opposite way. Then woke up at hospital 50 miles away with my leg in a cast.

The rest is what the witness and ambulance crew filled in. I missed out on seeing the exciting helicopter airlift, but the Ambulance crew said my gear was pretty torn up and the ligaments at the base of my spine had been strained, so my pelvis was unstable. I had a huge bruise on my hips, but surprisingly no broken ribs or neck injury having slammed my body into the front of the car. My foot was wedged under the car’s front wheel, my bike was under the bumper and my carbon helmet had a circular fracture in the right temple .

Two days later I picked up my bike from the salvage yard while on crutches. The staff there were stunned that I had been the rider and I was still alive and walking about, since they recover motorcycle from the site frequently and told me it was an accident hot spot. They told me having seen the wreckage of bike and car they believed it was fatal or life-changing injuries.I’m convinced the Helite (it was the XLL Turtle 1) saved my spine and torso from something more serious, paralysis or even death. Walking away with a bruised ankle and hip after a head on with a car doing about 30mph is incredible.

I never ride without it. I enclose a pic of the bike after the accident, after I restored it (thankfully, the frame was still straight) and me wearing the vest after a ride to the top of Box Hill in Dorking. Thanks again for such a life saver!