A student who underwent almost six months of hospital treatment following a cycle crash today urged riders to be more safety conscious — and called for more to be done to protect them.
Jing Li, 23, spent almost six months in hospital and had to undergo 10 operations after being crushed by a lorry when her bike slipped from underneath her in cold weather.
Ms Li, who is studying for a master’s degree in control systems at Imperial College, was discharged from hospital last Wednesday after a gruelling treatment regime.
She said the collision in Battersea on February 1 was “one of the scariest moments of my life”, adding: “My legs were trapped under the lorry and people came to help because they heard me yelling. One man gave me his jacket and held my hand. He kept telling me it was going to be OK.”
Ms Li, who moved to the capital from her native China in June last year, underwent multiple operations for muscle damage and skin grafting procedures at St George’s Hospital in Tooting.
“I lost a lot of muscle from the middle of my lower right leg up to my hip, and they had to do a skin graft from my other leg. I didn’t think I would be able to walk again. I have been in a wheelchair, and I started to walk last week. I still can’t bend my leg but I am hoping it is going to get better.”
Ms Li said she had only started riding her bike a month before the crash happened and urged other cyclists to be vigilant, as well as calling on Transport for London to widen cycle lanes.
“I don’t think I will be riding again,” she said. “The roads in London are extremely dangerous. Lots of cyclists listen to music and lots don’t wear helmets. I wasn’t wearing one. I think everyone should, they can help to save lives. I think the cycle paths should be wider and there should be more lanes.”
Last week Ms Li was reunited with the firefighters who came to her aid after the crash in Bridges Court, outside Battersea Heliport. She said: “I am so thankful because they saved my life.”
Earlier this month transport chiefs issued an urgent safety plea following the deaths of eight people in five days on London’s roads.
Stuart Reid, TfL’s Director of Vision Zero said: “Cases like Jing Li’s underline the human cost of road trauma. At TfL, we are working hard to improve road safety across the city and urge all road users to be aware of others and take care of themselves while out and about.
“We are also working closely with the emergency services and boroughs to deliver much needed improvements to roads across London to make them safer for walking and cycling.
"Too many lives and communities in London are blighted by road trauma and that’s why we are committed to the ambitious target of reducing the number of people dying or being seriously injured on our transport network to zero by 2041.”
