A SERIOUSLY injured motorcyclist who had to be dragged clear from the flaming wreckage of a crash has vowed to walk down the aisle unaided when he marries his girlfriend - 14 months on from the accident which almost claimed his life.
Dick Allaker suffered two badly broken legs, a shattered pelvis, a broken back, broken arm, fractured ribs, nerve damage and internal injuries when his bike collided with a car on the A167 at Thinford roundabout, near Spennymoor, County Durham, on August 12 last year.
The impact caused both vehicles to burst into flames. The shocked car driver was pulled from her burning Renault Megane by onlookers, while Mr Allaker, who had been thrown off his bike and over the car, was carried away from the fireball to safety.
The burnt out wreckage of Dick Allaker's motorbike and the car which were involved in the crash, on the Thinford roundabout, last August
He was flown to the James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, by the Great North Air Ambulance Service, and spent two and a half weeks in a medically-induced coma.
After deciding “life’s too short” to wait, the 53-year-old, from High Pittington, got engaged to his girlfriend Kathryn Moore several weeks after the accident and now hopes to walk, unaided, down the aisle on their wedding day, in October.
Mr Allaker described the aftermath of the crash a “like something from a film”.
As he lay on ground unable to move due to the severity of his injuries, he was being tended to by paramedics and good Samaritans Adam Tomlinson and Peter Senior, but he could hear the fire taking hold nearby.
The scene of the crash at the Thinford roundabout. Picture: Natalie Whitfield
He said: “I remember the accident happening, but I didn’t think I had come off too badly at first.
“I was knocked out on impact but I came round when everyone was tending to me.
“I could hear fizzing and popping and crackling coming from just behind my head.
“They covered me in a fire blanket and told me “this is going to hurt” and then they pulled me out of the way.”
He spent several weeks in intensive care battling to recover from numerous broken bones and serious internal injuries, including a torn kidney and torn aorta.
Whilst waiting by bedside, his girlfriend, Kathryn Moore, decided that, if Mr Allaker survived, she would do the Great North Run to say thank you to the Great North Air Ambulance Service.
Dick Allaker with his partner Kathryn Moore (centre) and friends (from left) Emma Swiatek, her son Jack, Paul Stevenson, and Beverley Platten, who are doing the Great North Run in aid of the Great North Air Ambulance. Picture: CHRIS BOOTH
She had initially seen news of the crash on Facebook and knew instinctively that her partner was involved.
Miss Moore said: “I just knew it was him.
“I was phoning him and texting him and got no reply and I couldn’t settle.
“Then in the early evening I saw two police officers walking up the street and I said to them “you had better not be here to tell me that he is dead”.
“When Dick was in intensive care and I was sat in the waiting room I thought “if he pulls through, I will do the Great North Run to give something back”.
“Then people kept saying they would do it with me.”
The couple had been together for two years before the accident and had discussed getting married, but got officially engaged in early October whilst Mr Allaker was still in hospital.
He said: “We knew before the accident that we were going to get married but we just thought “life’s too short".”
The wedding is booked for October 1 and Mr Allaker hopes to be able to walk down the aisle, unaided, on the big day.
He currently uses a walking frame to get around and was recently given a mobility scooter from a family friend. He also has limited mobility in his right arm.
Mr Allaker said he is “desperate” to return to work as a welder at Caterpillar, in Peterlee, and thanked his employers for their support since the accident.
Despite his ordeal, Mr Allaker said he hopes to get back on a motorbike again one day.
Keen biker Mr Allaker, pictured before last August's crash
He said: “There are so many little things that you don’t realise you can’t do until you’re in this position, even things like carrying a cuppa.
“It is frustrating but I’m not doing too badly."
Miss Moore also thanked her employers, HMRC, in Peterlee, for being so supportive and said: “As well as getting married, it is also a way of getting everybody together who have been there for us to say a massive thank you to them.
“This year has been written off with everything that’s gone on, so onwards and upwards from October.”
The couple praised the medical staff and air ambulance crew who treated Mr Allaker after the accident and thanked all their friends and family, especially Miss Moore’s mother, Susan, for their unwavering support over the last few months.
Joining Miss Moore on the Great North Run are her friends Paul Stevenson, Beverley Platten and Emma Swiatek, whose son Jack is also training with them.
- To donate, visit justgiving.com/kathryn-moore3, justgiving.com/paul-stevenson65, justgiving.com/beverley-platten or justgiving.com/emma-swiatek.
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