A biker had an amazing escape after colliding with an HGV on one of Scotland’s most dangerous roads.
Paul Meikle had been travelling south along the A9 on his Kawasaki when the accident occurred just south of Ballinluig.
Paul, from Preston, Lancashire, was on a biking holiday in Scotland with friends and his father when the group decided to pull into a layby for a break.
However, after slowing his bike to just 10mph Paul hit a pothole, which sent him flying sideways into the path of the lorry.
Astonishingly, he survived the incident with no broken bones after rolling under the trailer and out behind it, though he did require surgery to reduce swelling in his leg.
The accident was so shocking to witness that Paul’s dad Dave collapsed by the side of the road and a second ambulance had to be called.
An unnamed nurse from Sheffield travelling three cars behind the group rushed to Paul’s aid and treated him until paramedics arrived.
Paul told how the July 22 incident has made him re-evaluate the things that are important to him.
The 42-year-old said he had little memory of the incident which could so easily have cost him his life.
He said: “I don’t really remember much about it, but I was pulling into a layby when I hit a pothole and next thing you know I’m under a truck.
“I just remember being under the truck and thinking: ‘I’m dead’.
“I’m extremely lucky to be alive, most bikers that go under a truck don’t live to tell the story.
“A couple of inches either way and the truck could have gone over my head or over my chest and that would have been me dead.
“Without my helmet or my leathers I could have been in a far worse state.
“I had not one broken bone another miracle.
“Even at the hospital the nurses couldn’t believe I’d been under a truck and come away without breaking a bone.
“First thing one of my friends said to me was ‘Get the lottery on’.”
However, Paul did not escape the incident entirely unscathed and spent almost a week in Ninewells Hospital.
“I crushed my lower left leg,” he said. “They had to open my leg up on both sides to release pressure on my muscles so I’ve now got two big scars up my leg. I’m on crutches at the moment.”
The bar manager has vowed now to give up biking forever following the smash, which destroyed his prized Kawasaki GPz1100.
He said: “I’ll never go on a bike again I can’t risk it. It’s put my life in perspective.
“My girlfriend won’t let me have another bike, she’s not going through that again so I promised her I won’t go on a bike now.
“I’ll miss it it was my hobby. My girlfriend’s into fishing so I might take that up with her it’s nice and safe.”
Paul also hit out at those responsible for maintaining the road.
He said: “If it wasn’t for the pothole the accident wouldn’t have happened. The roads need to be sorted out what’s it going to take, somebody to die next time?
“It’s not too bad in a car because you have more control, but a pothole on a bike will throw you. I could have died the next biker might not be so lucky.”
A spokesman for BEAR Scotland said they could not comment on the individual case but added that the organisation undertakes “regular safety inspections” to identify defects and undertake repairs as required.