Widdrington woman back on the road after crash horror

Amazingly, she escaped without a serious injury, although she took a blow to the head and suffered chest and leg injuries.

She was able to walk away from the scene to be treated by paramedics and was given the all-clear to go home after nine hours in Wansbeck General Hospital.

Nursing her injuries and her pride, Michelle abandoned the lessons for several months, but eventually plucked up the nerve to start again and pass her test at the first attempt.
She said: "I was delighted to pass and I was really pleased with the instructors.

"They got me there because it did set me back quite a bit.

"I can now enjoy taking the bike out.

"The lesson had gone perfectly until the accident.

"I had done three U-turns perfectly but on the last one, I must have mounted the pavement and panicked.

"My foot slipped off my rear brake, my hand slipped off the clutch and I went full-throttle through the fence.

"The coastguards told me I was really lucky the tide wasn't in, otherwise I would have landed in the water with all my bike gear on.

"I have also qualified as a solo skydiver and have completed 36 jumps at the Peterlee parachute centre."

She said she felt she owed her life to her crash helmet, which had to be thrown away due to the extensive damage it absorbed.

Michelle, who also holds a car driving licence, was on a training ride with an instructor in preparation for her test when she lost control of the bike on Blyth Quayside.

Firefighters, police, paramedics and coastguards went to the scene of the accident, at around 10.30am on a quiet Sunday, after Michelle and machine plunged on to the rocks below the wooden staithes on the River Blyth.

Her bike also somehow escaped major damage. When it was recovered, it was found to have suffered only scratches to paintwork.

She was riding near the Spirit of the Staithes sculpture, when her bike suddenly shot through the railings on the quay wall.