A motorcyclist who survived a dreadful crash in Woolverstone has praised medics and admitted wearing the correct protective gear contributed to saving his life.

Andrew White from Capel St Mary, suffered life-changing injuries in the accident, caused when a tyre on his Kawasaki z250r slipped on a drain cover as he overtook a friend's car, last month.

Although the 26-year-old was driving slowly during the manoeuvre, his hand slipped on the throttle and the bike rapidly reached high speeds, throwing Andy more than 250 metres through bushes and a fence before he smashed into a verge.

Paramedics treated him at the scene and an air ambulance arrived as he was taken to Ipswich Hospital, then Addenbrookes, in Cambridgeshire. full story here...

Andy spent three days in intensive care, but fought to make it back home last week in time for Christmas.

His fiancé, Charlotte Wilkins, who works at Colchester Hospital, frequently made the trip to Cambridge to see her partner at Addenbrookes hospital.

Andy said: "I want to thank the staff at Ipswich and Addenbrooke's hospitals, and the ambulance crews who all saved my life."

The horrific injuries included fractures to his arm and leg, and damage to two vertebrae and Andrew is adamant that without his protective gear, consisting of a jacket with backboard, specialist trousers and boots, he would not have survived.

Andy believes without the backboard in his jacket, injuries to his spine would have been far more severe and added if it were it not for the long boots holding his ankle in place, he would probably have lost his leg.

He said: "Without a doubt, if I wasn't wearing the right clothing I wouldn't be here now.

"How I am still here even with the protective gear is a bit of a shock.

"I was always one of those people who thought if I'm just popping down the road to the shop ten minutes away, maybe I'll just wear trainers.

"But this showed me that you don't have to be doing high speeds down the A12, overtaking cars, to be in a horrific crash. That's what scares me.

"Because I was conscious throughout the accident, I remember everything, and I think in many ways that's made it quite hard."

Andrew, who works on the railways in East Anglia, may not be able to return to work for months and that depends on recovering full mobility.

Amber Butler from Shotley, a friend of Andy and Charlotte, has set up [https://uk.gofundme.com/f/g67bzh-andys-road-to-recovery[L+]a fundraiser to help the couple[.L], who live in Capel St Mary, pay their mortgage through the festive period and it has reached almost £1,000 so far.