A MOTORCYCLIST who was involved in a crash is to climb Mount Snowdon exactly one year later to thank those who saved his life.
Mark Kempsell, 29, was involved in a collision in Denbighshire, close to the village of Groes, after he went for a ride after work on the evening of Friday, July 23 last year.
Mark, who lives in Newton-le-Willows, suffered serious injuries and had to be taken to hospital by Wales Air Ambulance.
“It was a nice sunny day so I headed out and wanted to go for a ride on the bike, and headed to North Wales, near Denbigh,” said Mark.
He was involved in a “head on” crash which resulted in him suffering serious injuries and he had to be airlifted to hospital.
“I woke up and there were a number of members of the public there and the police had come out, and later on the ambulance.
“There was a guy there who was quite nice and said he was previously himself involved in a similar incident around 20 years ago. It was nice having him there, he was there the whole time and helped me work out what had happened.
“He sat there, held my hand, and talked to me while they waited for the air ambulance to come."
Mark was treated by the air ambulance at the side of the road and taken to hospital.
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He suffered seven fractures to his neck, pelvis, arm, and wrist and fractured his C2 vertebrae, which is normally fatal or results in paralysis, meaning time and treatment was critical for Mark.
He underwent surgery on the Sunday but unfortunately, complications arose as he had suffered cuts to one of the arteries in his neck.
Thankfully, this was able to be resolved and Mark spent two days in critical care, and was discharged from hospital after 13 days on August 5.
Mark then recovered at his dad’s and returned to his home in Newton-le-Willows in October.
Mark, a retail agricultural manager at the Co-op went back to work in February and is back full-time but is still struggling with pain, particularly at night, with his sleep affected.
Mark decided that he wanted to do something to say thank you to Wales Air Ambulance for saving his life and set himself the goal of climbing Snowdon on July 23 this year, one year on from the crash.
“They were so incredible,” added Mark.
”What they did for me, without them there’s no chance I would have survived, I needed urgent treatment and it was a five-hour wait for a road ambulance. If they hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t be here.”
Mark said: “I wanted to do something to thank them. Talking to the hospital staff they said the air ambulance gets no funds from the NHS and that made me want even more to raise awareness.
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“They literally do lifesaving work and it has given me something to focus on in terms of my recovery.”
On his fundraising page, Mark added: “Personally, I'll never be able to thank the team enough for what they did for me that day. I owe them my life.
“I plan to climb Mt. Snowdon on July 23, 2022. This will be exactly a year after the collision. If you're able to make even a small donation it would be hugely appreciated and the difference it could make could save someone's life.”
- Visit justgiving.com/fundraising/mark-kempsell to donate.
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