A Hull man whose back was broken in two places when he was knocked from his bicycle faces a long struggle to walk again. Cliff Hattersley, 59, was cycling to his son's house from his home in The Quadrant when he was hit side-on by a car.
Mr Hattersley was thrown from his bike by the impact and suffered two fractures in his vertebrae.
X-rays revealed emergency surgery would be needed to help it fully heal.
His wife Linda said: "He couldn't get out of the bed at hospital.
"He couldn't stand up on his own. I would rather it was a broken arm or a leg but it's such a serious thing, a back injury.
"It's not something you easily recover from."
Mr Hattersley's son was away from his home in Priory Road, so he was heading round to check on it.
As he cycled around the roundabout where Fairfax Avenue joins Cottingham Road, he was in a collision with a silver Vauxhall Astra.
He did not lose consciousness and even spoke to his wife on the phone after being picked up by emergency services.
It was at first thought his injuries were minor, before an X-ray revealed the bad news.
Mrs Hattersley, 59, said: "He didn't sound too bad on the phone.
"He got a bang on the head and he hurt his shoulder but he never lost consciousness.
"I didn't think it was that serious."
But a CT scan revealed her husband had suffered an unstable fracture.
His vertebrae was broken his in two places, meaning his back might not heal properly on its own.
The family was given two choices – 12 weeks of bed rest coupled with therapy from a specialist unit at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield, or an immediate operation.
They decided surgery was the best option, and on Friday afternoon, Mr Hattersley had screws and rods put into his back to help it heal properly.
He is still in hospital and is walking only hesitantly with a zimmer frame but hopes to make a full recovery.
Mrs Hattersley said: "They're trying to get him home at the beginning of this week. But with the pain he was in and him not being able to stand, I will just have to see how it goes when the doctors see him.
"It's hard not knowing what the outcome will be yet. Once I know the outcome, I will be relieved."
Her husband, who no longer drives, is fitted with a pacemaker and started cycling to improve his health.
The couple do not yet know if he will get on a bike again.
Mrs Hattersley said: "The doctors said he will have less mobility but whether he will be able to cycle again I don't know.
"He's usually full of jokes. He's not himself at the moment but he will get back there.
"There was nothing he could have done to protect himself. The police said about him having a helmet but a helmet wouldn't have stopped a broken back."
The crash happened just before 8am on Wednesday last week.
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