Cyclist knocked unconscious after hitting pothole makes emotional plea for people to wear helmets

Chris Halligan says he could have died without it - and, with no quick solution to the district's crumbling roads on the horizon, others should take heed of his warning.

The accident happened when Chris and his friend, Adam Maples, were on a training ride on a back road between Alford and Withern.

"I really can't remember a lot about it," said Chris. "We's set out to do a 56-mile ride and were about 18 miles in when it happened.

"We'd just come round a blindish bend and the last thing I remembered was hitting a pothole.

"Adam said I was knocked unconscious for about a minute.

"I can remember coming round and he sounded as if he was a long way off - then I could see him standing over me.

"I instinctively tried to get up to see if we could continue the ride but my legs just collapsed."

Chris said he is keen to contact the parcel delivery driver who stopped her van to help them.

"They helped me into the back of the van and she covered me with a blanket until the ambulance came.

"I would really like to make contact with her to thank her."

The ambulance took Chris to Pilgrim Hospital in Boston. "They wanted to keep me overnight but after my CT scan I asked to go home as my wife had been frantic.

" I ended up with a black eye probably as a result of my head being pushed forward and backwards as it bounced on the road.

"My hip also keeps locking since the accident.

"The helmet and lining was split at the back, probably as a result of my head banging on the road.

"Without it I really think I could have died. I really can't believe how people can still ride cycles without wearing helmets - it saved my life I am sure of it."

Chris - manager of local company Made 2 Measure, which produces mirrors - is a member of Skegness Tri Club. He had been training for a Half Iron Man competition in Holland in June.

However, whether this will happen and Chris is recovered enough to go is uncertain.

"My bike also took a beating," he said. "Thankfully I was wearing winter gear which helped to protect me, but it was cut off at hospital so I lost that too."

Chris has shared his story in the hope others would realise the importance of wearing a helmet. It also comes as Lincolnshire County Council announced a shortfall of £12.3m government funding for roads, which swallows up the £10m extra they were going to spend on repairing the roads.

The LCC has agreed to make up the shortfall, however.

In 2013, fellow Skegness Tri Club member Mark Smith campaigned to make wearing a helmet law, after his 16-year-old son, Ryan, suffered a brain injury in an accident because he did not want to mess up his hair.

In spite of thousands of signatures in an online petition, the Government rejected it.

"This accident has really brought home to me how dangerous it is not to wear a helmet," said Chris.

"I cannot understand why the Government rejected Mark's campaign. I only hope that people learn from what happened to me."

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