Man, this is nasty - I feel like Michael Burke introducing an episode of 999: 'When Trudy and Stephen Malaney went out for a day's riding, little did they expect the horrors that would await them...'

Introducing Stephen Malaney:

I have been biking for about 12 years and, since I got married a few years back, have been taking my wife cycling along cycle paths and country roads. Nice and easy and very civilised!

Eventually, I persuaded my wife to get into the fantastic sport of mountainbiking by dangling a carrot in the form of a shiny new Trek bike. We went of on holiday for a tour of North West Scotland, which would conveniently involve a stop at Fort William where I could ride the 4X course and we could explore some of the local trails. I decided to take my wife on her off-road baptism with a ride through the forest trails at Nevis Range beforehand, choosing the easy 'Green' route. It was not exactly fraught with danger... or so I thought.

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My advice of 'don't brake on the really loose stuff' was translated to 'don't brake at all!' I thought my wife was a closet downhiller as she passed me at nearly 30mph on the first descent obviously enjoying the adrenaline buzz.

Unfortunately things all went a bit pear-shaped. It happened so fast, we hit a tight bend and the inevitable happened, she lost control and wiped out, slid across the forest road and vanished out of sight. I caught up with her about 10 seconds later and found her unconscious, face down in a stream about 3ft down a rocky embankment and thought the worst.

I managed to carry her back onto the forest track, her injury looked serious as there was a lot of blood from her facial injuries although I had no idea of the full extent of these. I went for help and after a bumpy ride back up the forest road courtesy of the Nevis Range minibus, an overnight in Belford Hospital was required before she was flown to Glasgow to a specialist treatment unit.

The end result of her crash had been:
- a broken neck,
- a fractured wrist,
- severe bruising of both legs,
- a broken tooth (and her face was a bit of a mess),

She was very lucky to escape any form of paralysis thanks to the great care and attention from the medical staff who treated her at Fort William and the Southern General in Glasgow.