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Cyclist impaled by faulty protruding fence blames housing association for horror crash

The 19-year-old was cycling on the footpath near his home when he collided with a garden fence which was falling into the street, tearing a hole through his chest

A 19-year-old cyclist has blamed a local housing association for the horrific injuries he sustained after he was impaled by a garden fence which was protruding into the street.

Cole Cummings was cycling on a footpath near his home in Coatbridge last month when he collided with the fencepost, which pierced a hole through his chest. He spent a week at Monkland’s Hospital in Airdrie, before being transferred to Wishaw General for an operation on the wound.

“I was just riding my bike along Kirkshaws Road,” Cummings told the Daily Record

“It was a really sunny day and I didn’t see the fence sticking out. I cycled right into it and one of the fence poles went through my chest.

“It left a really deep hole in my chest. I was raced up to the hospital in an ambulance straight away.”

> Italian cyclist, 16, recovering after being impaled on two huge track splinters 

Cummings says that the injuries sustained in the freak crash have resulted in him losing out on a job opportunity.

“I was working at Muller Dairy in Bellshill at the time of my accident and I was set to get a full-time job after a trial period. But now that opportunity is gone because I've had to spend weeks stuck at home recovering from the injury.”

> Cyclist left with tree branch impaled in neck after quarry fall 

The teenager has criticised Clyde Valley Housing Association, which he claims neglected to carry out repairs to the fence despite previously being warned about its condition, and have allegedly failed to contact him since the incident.

“The fence leaning on to the path had already been reported to Clyde Valley, but they seemed to have no intention of fixing it,” Cummings said.

“The tenant with the collapsed fence contacted them on the day of the accident and began ranting about it. They then went out within an hour and repaired it – but I have tried to contact them myself and they have not answered a phone call or anything.”

> Cyclist impaled on bike’s handlebars in freak crash 

A spokesperson from Clyde Valley Housing Association told the Record: “We take all issues of safety very seriously, especially regarding repairs, and we are currently investigating our records to confirm the detail of any contact received regarding this issue and will report back to the tenants as appropriate.”

Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.

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10 comments

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fenix | 1 year ago
0 likes

Bit harsh if he did lose out on the job because he was impaled ? Not a good look for an employer.

Avatar
Jenova20 replied to fenix | 1 year ago
0 likes

fenix wrote:

Bit harsh if he did lose out on the job because he was impaled ? Not a good look for an employer.

Not really. Would you employ someone who can't work? Bit of a no-brainer there. An oxymoron even, since the purpose of a job is to work for money.

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Benthic | 1 year ago
0 likes

At what point will people admit responsibility themselves for cycling / driving / walking / flying / sailing into stationary objects?

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zideriup replied to Benthic | 1 year ago
3 likes

🙄 Found the caretaker...

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Jenova20 replied to zideriup | 1 year ago
0 likes

At least he's not asking for compensation, since the argument would have to be made that he was injured while breaking the law - since he shouldn't have been on the pavement. Not saying I agree with it, but it's obviously a good defence if this did go to court.

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mdavidford replied to Jenova20 | 1 year ago
1 like

Jenova20 wrote:

it's obviously a good defence if this did go to court.

I thought de fence was what caused the problem here in the first place?

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Jenova20 replied to mdavidford | 1 year ago
0 likes

mdavidford wrote:

Jenova20 wrote:

it's obviously a good defence if this did go to court.

I thought de fence was what caused the problem here in the first place?

Touche

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AlsoSomniloquism | 1 year ago
1 like

Horrible accident and if they had been warned then they do deserve some comeback....however he was riding on the footpath on a what appears to be a fairly quiet road at a speed where he didn't see something in his path until too late. I'm sure that will be a defence used against him. 

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Cocovelo | 1 year ago
9 likes

Having been impaled on a fence myself I can confirm that it's as pleasant as it sounds. Get well soon Cole

Avatar
brooksby replied to Cocovelo | 1 year ago
4 likes

Cocovelo wrote:

I can confirm that it's as pleasant as it sounds

So that would be "Not at all"?  Horrible... 

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