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Cyclist impaled on bike’s handlebars in freak crash

Rider hospitalised after incident in Hull on Sunday

A cyclist in Hull was taken to hospital yesterday after he was impaled on his handlebars in a freak crash.

The incident happened at around 4pm near the North Point shopping centre in Bransholme in the north of the city, reports Hull Live.

An air ambulance was called to the scene of the crash, with the injured cyclist receiving treatment from paramedics before being taken to hospital.

Eyewitness described how the rider had been pedalling his bike when he was suddenly thrown off it, the handlebars “punching” through his stomach.

Such incidents are unusual but not unknown – in 2018 we reported how the father of a six-year-old boy in the United States urged parents to check their children’s bikes after his son was killed when he became impaled on the handlebars.

> US father’s warning after six-year-old dies after being impaled by his bike’s handlebars

Denny Curran died after the day after he suffered a fall when riding with friends on quiet residential roads in Pullman, Washington State.

His father, Keith, said: “For some reason, and I don't know yet, the bicycle handlebars turned ninety degrees and impacted the asphalt and impaled him in his abdomen.

“He tore his iliac artery and lacerated his abdomen. He stopped breathing and CPR was performed. They had to clamp off the artery.”

He said that the bike was missing its bar end plugs and the edges had worn off the rubber grips.

"This bicycle's handlebar tubes, they are these tubes and they have some serration on the end of them, and through normal operation of bike it saws off the rubber on the grips and they poke through.” Mr Curran said.

He added: “I looked at the bicycle afterwards and I see that the grip had been moved forward. I don't know if that was from the impact of his body hitting it or if that was from operational use.”

In 2019, we reported how doctors in Oxford had urged cyclists to check their handlebar grips after an incident in which a 14-year-old boy’s penis became ‘degloved’ when he crashed into a parked car, impaling his groin.

> Oxford teen’s penis ‘degloved’ by his bike’s handlebars in freak crash - doctors urge ensuring bars have grips to avoid similar cases

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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6 comments

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Xenophon2 | 2 years ago
4 likes

When -aeons ago- I was 11 or 12, did crazy shit on a decrepit BMX and thought myself immortal, my anaesthesiologist  father who saw that the handlebars didn't have plugs took an apple corer, de-cored an apple, pointed to my handlebars and then said that I was going to be that apple if ever I took hard fall and things didn't pan out.  I never forgot.

Avatar
Steve K | 2 years ago
1 like

There's a helmet joke in there somewhere, but I'm leaving well alone.

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EddyBerckx | 2 years ago
6 likes

DONT EVER USE THE WORDS 'DE-GLOVED' ON THIS SITE AGAIN!!    

Avatar
Hirsute replied to EddyBerckx | 2 years ago
2 likes

We are the knights who say [this word has been censored by the Bristol board of etymological control]

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hawkinspeter | 2 years ago
3 likes

Ouch!

That reminds me, I'm going to carry a couple of spare bar end plugs so that the next time I see someone missing one or both, I can offer advice and the remedy.

By the way, I wish I'd never found out the meaning of the term "de-gloved".

Avatar
EK Spinner replied to hawkinspeter | 2 years ago
6 likes

everytime I replace my bar tape I keep the end plugs, and hand them out as and when required for this very reason, I also check out the bikes of kids in the park etc when out with my randson, and speak to the parents if I can

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