Cyclists urged to wear safety helmets

THE young daughter of a cyclist who was left fighting for his life after being knocked down in Warrington has appealed for all the town’s riders to ensure they wear their helmets.
Laura-Jean Gort, 10, faced a traumatic wait to find out if she would ever again speak to her dad, Brian, after he was left in a critical condition in hospital from head injuries he received in a collision on a Warrington road.
Now she is calling for all cyclists to ensure they are wearing the correct protective equipment when out on the roads, as she and her family believe it was Brian’s helmet that ultimately saved his life.
Laura-Jean said: “This has been a terrible time for my family and we just want to make sure that no one else has to go through what we have. It was hard when my dad was in hospital to come home at night, leave him alone in hospital and come back to an empty house.
“He ended up with a major brain injury and I was upset having to watch my dad in pain and having to learn to walk again.”
Denise Gort, Brian’s wife added: “Brian remained critical for 48 hours – the longest two days of my life. Although he sustained life threatening injuries I believe without doubt that had he not been wearing his helmet he would have died.”
The calls from the Gort family come as figures from Cheshire Police show more than 80 cyclists are killed each year on roads in Warrington, Widnes and Runcorn.
PC Ian Stephenson, who investigated the collision involving Brian, commented: “People think that something like this would never happen to them – but this shows that it can.
“These figures show that a substantial number of collisions in the area involve pedal cyclists. I would imagine that the vast majority of these cyclists were not wearing any protection – especially a helmet.
“I can’t stress enough how important this is – you only have to take a look at what happened to Mr Gort to realise the need to ensure you are properly kitted out before you even step out of the door and onto your bike.
“Cyclists should always make sure they are wearing a good helmet, ensure they have lights on both the front and the back of the bike and wear light-coloured clothing – preferably fluorescent jacket or vest – especially if they are cycling at night.”