A man could only be recognised by his nose after nearly being squashed to death by a horse while driving to work, Wales Online reports. Ian Tilston, 34 was travelling on the M56 from Hawarden, north Wales to Nantwich when a horse that had escaped its field launched itself onto his car as he drove down the slip road.
As Ian exited junction 10, the huge animal was hit by the car in front of him and toppled over onto the 34-year-old's vehicle, crushing him and his vehicle. He was rushed to Salford Royal Hospital where he received life-saving brain surgery and a number of other procedures including a reconstruction of his face.
The incident which occurred on January 10, 2022 left Ian with an entirely crushed face and a part of his skull had to be removed for surgery. A year on from the 'freak accident', Ian has lost his vision and is unable to walk as he requires 24 hour care from his family.
His older brother, Adam Tilston recalled him being put in an induced coma for a few weeks before he was moved to the Walton Centre for his surgery. He said: "He had a number of surgeries and they even rebuilt his face.
"His entire face was crushed in the crash and he had to have a piece of his skull removed for surgery. He looked an absolute mess after the accident and we only knew it was him through his nose.
"He's been at the Walton Centre for a year now. He's had life-changing injuries as a result of this.
"He's lost his vision and can't walk so he needs 24-hour care. They're looking to discharge him but we need somewhere for him to go.
"We're trying to transform our mum's house now. We want him home to be able to enjoy some quality of life.
"We just want to get something in place for him. Police at the time said it was a freak accident and the fences were in fine condition but horses had since escaped."
The dad-of-one explained that his brother's bleeding on the brain was the worst case that Salford Royal Hospital had ever seen. Since the accident, Ian is now able to partially move his right arm which is something medics did not think would be possible a year ago.
Despite the progress, Adam says that his younger brother is still very much cognitively challenged as a result of his severe injuries and has days where he thinks the year is 2010.
Speaking about that life-changing day, Adam said: "I was in work and around 9.30am my grandad rang me, it was the first time in my life I'd heard him cry.
"I thought the worst and thought he had died. I went to see my grandparents and we waited for news.
"Since then our entire lives have changed. At the start, we were preparing our lives for the worst.
"We could only recognise him through his nose. The turning point was when he was in ICU and he put his thumbs up to us."
The family are now asking for donations to put towards the work that needs to be done at their mum's home in order for Ian to be discharged from the Walton Centre. For more information or to donate, visit their GoFundMe page here.
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