I'm not asking for sponsorship for this trip in any way. I'm funding out of my own pocket. However I would like you to take some time to find out more about the Devon Air Ambulance Trust and donate some money to them.

If it wasn't for the Devon Air Ambulance I might not have been able to take this journey. They came to my aid when I needed them, as they have done for a number of people that I know. What follows is an account of a motorcycle accident I had in May 2006.

Riding home in the rain on a Sunday morning, I came around a corner to find a tree in the road. So I do what anyone would have done, start breaking and aim for the gap to the left of the tree. That's when I noticed a car appeared to be coming through the tree… Sideways! It turns out the car managed to push the tree about 3 car lengths! So I'm aiming for the gap to the left of the tree and then I realise no more gap. The back end of the car is now nicely blocking my path. "Oh crap" I think! 50 to 60ish miles per hour in the wet, breaking as hard as I can for the conditions I hit the rear drivers side of the car. Now comes the superman/power rangers summersault in mid air, as I head over the handlebars. I came to rest about 15 feet down a bank next to a tree. I'm actually pretty glad that I hit the tree because another 3 feet and I would have ended up in a very deep, fast flowing river, probably never to be seen again. So someone pops off to phone for an ambulance because there is no mobile phone signal and all I can do is wait.

The air ambulance turns up with police and a normal ambulance. Then it was time to get me back up to the road and sort me out. Hum… How to get Bill 15 feet back up the bank. Rope around the chest and everyone together… Pull. Yep, no other way to do it. Neck brace on and drag me up hoping I don't have a broken back or anything.

So they strap me up and stuff me in the back of the Air Ambulance and fly me to Exeter hospital, where I have all my clothes cut off and I get prodded, poked and x-rayed. It takes them 15 minutes to fly from the accident site to the hospital, in a normal ambulance it would have taken 45 minutes.

After all the x-rays it turns out that nothing broken. Not even a scratch. Well OK, I was pretty bruised and in a crap load of pain, but that's it. They kept me in overnight for observation and let me go home on Monday morning.

As for the driver of the car, he's admitted that it was his fault to the police. If he was driving carefully for the wet conditions and not changing the radio station at the time, he would have been able to stop safely on the straight bit of road he was driving along. The police told me that he was to attend an advanced driving course or face charges.

Not much else to say really, I had a couple of weeks off work, some bruises and a limp for a while. 3 months later and I still have a groin strain, but hey… At least I'm still alive.

I'd like to thank everyone that helped me when I needed it and urge you to donate some money, however much or little to the Devon Air Ambulance Trust. You never know when you'll need them. Click on the logo at the top of the page. Thanks.