Sunderland friends lucky to be alive after horrific motorbike crash

Derek Thoms, 56, and Christine Strong, 58, were on their way home from a drive out when a car pulled out of a junction on the A66 near Barnard Castle in July last year.

Their motorbike crashed through the car’s back door glass, throwing the pair forwards and into the back of the car.

The pair were left seriously injured, with Christine placed on life support for two weeks.

Derek said: “We were heading back over the A66 which was really busy.

"I tapped Christine’s leg to make sure she was OK and that’s the last thing I remember.”

Derek suffered a crushed pelvis and right hand, lost the use of his right leg, a broken nose, facial scarring and a double hernia as well as losing his teeth.

Christine shattered her pelvis, suffered a major head injury and had eight bolts in her back and a rod in her spine.

She said: “I remember sitting on the back of Derek’s bike, him revving the engine and then I woke up in James Cook University Hospital.

"I have days where all I want to do is cry but I have to be strong.”

Since the accident, the pair have been told that when emergency services arrived, they thought the incident was fatal and that neither of them would have survived.

Christine said: “I remember waking up in hospital and seeing the pattern on the ceiling and thinking,‘where am I?’

"Life has changed forever, and I can’t do the things I could do before.”

Despite their ordeal, Christine still hopes to get on the back of a motorbike again one day and said she certainly doesn’t feel nearly 60-years-old.

Derek said: “I’ve lost everything through this accident but GNAAS is worth its weight in gold, so god bless them all.”

GNAAS is continuing to fly through the covid-19 crisis but has asked the public to continue its support in the face of the collapse of its community fundraising activities.

Visit www.gnaas.com or call: 01325 487263.

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