Teenager who lost leg in crash rides again
Hit while riding home from work, this Sussex teenager lost part of his leg. But that hasn’t kept him from riding.
A Sussex motorcyclist who was struck on the way home from work and lost a leg has gotten back on a bike, just 8 months after his life-changing crash.
Ted Spurrel, 18, was hit last December while riding home from his job at a pub. Along with a ruptured spleen and other injuries, the damage to his left leg was so severe that it had to be amputated just below the knee.
Stop and think for a moment how such a thing would affect you. Obviously, it was hard on Spurrell. Speaking to BBC South East, his mother, Sasha, said that her son is “doing well physically, but psychologically it has taken its toll.”
Recently, however, Spurrell received a boost thanks to an organisation known as The Bike Experience. Started 14 years ago by Talan Skeels-Piggins - a motorcyclist who also had been left disabled by a crash - the charity helps amputees and others with disabilities regain confidence and a feeling of autonomy with specialised motorcycles.
Spurrell joined The Bike Experience at Silverstone last week, getting on a motorcycle - in this case, an adapted Honda Varadero 125 - for the first time since the accident.
Speaking to BBC South East, his mother said that Spurrell had felt “empowered” by the event.
“The whole Silverstone experience he did the other day was fantastic," she said.
Meanwhile, his recovery continues.
“There's been a lot of trial and error when it comes to fitting a prosthetic, because the knee to thigh bit has been difficult to get a fit for,” his mother told BBC South East.
But now that Spurrell has a properly fitting prosthetic leg his spirits are up and he’s putting in the hard work of physiotherapy.
He clearly has the support of his mother and family, but he also has a strong cheerleader in the form of Jayme Guthrie, who was one of the first people to be at the scene of the crash. She stayed with Spurrell until an ambulance arrived and was so taken by his strength of character that she has organised a number of fundraising efforts to help in his recovery.
Earlier this year she ran the Worthing Half Marathon to raise money for him, and she has also set up a Go Fund Me page.
Spurrell also received his A-level results recently, which were relatively good considering the incredible challenges he’s been facing in terms of recovery.
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Chris Cope is a fourth-generation journalist, originally from Texas. He has lived in the UK for roughly two decades and has been writing about motorcycles for most of that time. He has written for dozens of publications and websites in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia.
