Paul Macaree had an unlucky break on his birthday when an accident left him with a fractured leg.
Our Suzuki ambassador sales executive was on holiday with partner Chrissie in the Lake District when they took a tumble while riding her Triumph Scrambler over a cattle grid at just 7mph.
Pillion Chrissie was left sitting on the ground unhurt, the Triumph suffered only a bent front brake lever but Paul was left with bike on top of him and his right leg broken just above the ankle.
He ended up in hospital in Carlisle where, three days after the accident, he had a five-hour operation to insert a pin into his lower leg to secure the spiral fracture of his tibia to his ankle.
Paul and Chrissie had been heading to the Hardknott Pass but as they crossed a cattle grid the back of the bike stepped out to the right, and then the left, before it fell over. Paul’s right foot struck the ground and spun his ankle round – in the same place he had broken it in 1994!
Fortunately, some passers-by and fell walkers came to their aid and lifted the bike off him, used their satellite tracking system to alert emergency services to the remote location, kept the 61-year-old birthday boy warm with a foil blanket and even got his bike to a nearby pub so it could be picked up.
“When the bike was lifted off my leg you could see how bad it was,” said Paul. “The fell walkers were brilliant.”
It had been raining in the morning so they did not ride out until the afternoon and Paul says the cattle grid must have still been wet because it was like riding on ice.
Chrissie and her son took the couple’s motorhome and his car home while Paul was in hospital. A week after the accident, she made a round trip of more than 600 miles to Carlisle to take Paul home.
Paul hopes to have the staples out of his leg this week and can only put partial weight on it for six weeks. But he hopes to be back to work soon after as he’s already getting bored at home.
“I’ve broken 40-odd bones now but I’m already thinking about getting back on a bike.
“Let’s not be soppy about it but sports bikes might be out now,” he added.