A YOUNG motorcyclist has said he may never get on a bike again after being involved in an accident, which nearly lost him his leg.

Stuart Southcott, 18 of Alveston, has said he is lucky to be alive after being thrown from his motorbike in an accident on the A38.

"I am just so lucky to here and in one piece.

"I don't I'll ever get on a motorbike again. I've really lost my confidence," he said.

Stuart was travelling home towards Alveston two weeks ago when he was knocked of his Shineray XY125GY motorbike, which he had only had since April.

"I can't really remember much. I remember driving along the A38 and then a car sent me flying across the road and then I was lying on the road.

"I rolled onto my back but leg was still out at an angle," he said.

Stuart suffered a broken femur, a dislocated ankle and had to undergo four hours of surgery and three days at Frenchay Hospital to have a metal plate fitted to his leg.

Stuart is now confined to a wheelchair for up to six months while he attempts to regain full strength and mobility.

"I'm still in a lot of pain. I can't do anything for myself at the moment my Gran has to help me into bed because I have to lift my leg I can't just move it," he said.

However, the outcome could have been a lot worse for Stuart if it had not of been for the Great Western Air Ambulance (GWAS).

The air ambulance, based at Filton, was only launched the day before Stuart's accident, but it was the crew's medics that saved his leg.

Danny Hopkins, GWAS Service Delivery Manager of Air Operations and a critical care paramedic who attended the scene, said: "When we arrived he had no pulse in his foot. It was a limb-threatening incident."

Stuart said: "I just want to give a big thank you to the air ambulance. If they hadn't come I would either have lost my leg or worse still I could have died."

Stuart's grandparents, Sally and Mike Southcott also of Alveston, have also expressed their gratitude to the air ambulance.

Mrs Southcott, 53, said: "The air ambulance were brilliant, absolutely marvellous and they even stayed with him in the hospital.

"We are just so lucky that the air ambulance had started the day before the accident."