Sent flying by pothole: Cyclist Denis Whittaker suffered severe bruising in Abbey Hulton accident
POTTERY worker Denis Whittaker was left with severe bruising to his backand side after hitting a pothole as he cycled home from work.
The 64-year-old went flying over the handlebars of his bike when he hit the crater in Leek Road, Abbey Hulton.
The grandfather-of-four was riding home to Abbey Hulton at about 4.30pm on Wednesday when the accident happened.
Motorists swerved to avoid Denis as he lay in the road before stopping to help him.
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Now the father-of-two is calling on Stoke-on-Trent City Council to fix the pothole.
Denis, of Butts Green, said: "I was keeping an eye on the traffic as I always do when all of a sudden I just jolted forward and came off my bike.
"The next thing I knew I was lying in the road and saw I had hit a pothole.
"It happened about half a mile away from my house so I managed to walk the rest of the way, but I was in agony."
Denis drove to Haywood Hospital, in Burslem, where nurses carried out tests on his kidneys before discharging him with Paracetamol. He has also been off work for a number of days.
He added: "I was in agony, I still am. I can't move very much without feeling some pain and that's why I haven't been able to go to work.
"I have to lift heavy boxes in my job and I just can't do that while I'm like this.
"The bruises are all down my right side because I went straight over the handlebars.
"I have seen the pothole before, it has been there a while, but it has got so much deeper and bigger that even cars struggle to avoid it. Something needs to be done because it is dangerous.
"There are lots of people who ride along that road so if it happens to someone else it could be much worse next time. If I had landed three inches away I could have been run over."
Latest figures show the city council repaired 6,859 potholes in 2012 following 8,735 complaints.
Denis's 44-year-old daughter, Andrea Lloyd, who also lives in Abbey Hulton, added: "Potholes are getting a lot worse, so it is not surprising something like this happened.
"Potholes are dangerous and can not only hurt people, but damage cars and bikes too.
"The council needs to get its act together before someone else gets hurt.
"We pay enough road and council tax to deserve better roads."
7 Comments
by FFDP1
Tuesday, February 05 2013, 3:42AM
“Just ignore sweaty socks, its a wonder there are not trying to bring in the normal single minded uneducated bigotry they normally show. I hope the guy hear soon heals up.”
by workera
Tuesday, February 05 2013, 12:00AM
“by sweatysock
.
"should of gone to 'spec savers'"
thats really mature of you, my dad could of been killed you idiot”
by nobbynextdoor
Monday, February 04 2013, 6:15PM
“The council should have their own machine which fills potholes in less than a minute and employ 2 men to operate it full time, (seen the machine being operated by scottish councils).
Then instead of sending people out in their cars to identify the BAD potholes and draw white boxes around them so contractors can get £4 bag of tarmac from B&Q stick it in the hole and charge us £66 for it.
Our council machine operators will drive around using initiative fill in the worse holes immediately starting with the ones which have been there since winter 2011 and we save ourselves a fortune.”
by sweatysock
Monday, February 04 2013, 5:47PM
“should of gone to 'spec savers'”
by spudder56
Monday, February 04 2013, 1:58PM
“by PMiltonMonday, February 04 2013, 12:38PM
"They are lethal these potholes, They really are! Very Dangerous, you could say life threatening to bikers and cyclists alike! The council has to act they have a duty!"
They will act and do nothing as too busy filling out expenses claims Fine leaders are Pezzer and his gruuby little gang of con men”
by PMilton
Monday, February 04 2013, 12:38PM
“They are lethal these potholes, They really are! Very Dangerous, you could say life threatening to bikers and cyclists alike! The council has to act they have a duty!”
by Exserviceman
Monday, February 04 2013, 8:28AM
“We understand that because of the bad weather the condition of the roads will deteriorate but if we do why don't the council? With the forecasts of bad weather the council should really have had contingency plans drawn up to repair potholes a lot faster. About 10 days ago a pothole at the bottom of Gloucester Road Kidsgrove was filled in and because of the quality (LOL) of the repair it's already back.”