A round-the-world charity cyclist who was badly injured when he was knocked off his bike in America is finally home.
Josh Quigley (27) said he was lucky to be alive after the 70-mile an hour accident in Texas on December 21.
He has been receiving treatment in the States since then but was delighted to return to his home in Deans this week.
He suffered 10 broken ribs, a punctured lung, a fractured pelvis and skull in the crash on Highway 36, near Temple, but is already making plans to to return to the US to complete his cycle trip around the world.
He said on his Facebook page: “Five weeks after the accident in America, I’ve finally made it home.
“It’s funny, but for most of 2019, I used to think to myself all the time, ‘next time I’m in Scotland I’ll have finished cycling around the world’.
“But here I am again, back home in Scotland and I’m still not finished it.
“But this time I think that the most important thing is that I made it home alive.
“It could have been so much different and I could have also been facing a future without cycling.”
Josh continued: “It’s not a case of if anymore. It’s just a case of when I will finish.
“I want to say a big thanks to my sponsors Elixinol Europe who also made sure I got home in style by organising a luxury chauffeur driven car to get me home from the airport.
“It’s not always easy working with me, but they’ve had my back for almost a year now and stuck by me when I’m sure others might have given up.
“I appreciate that support so much and for them putting so much faith and support behind my goals and ambitions.”
Josh began his round-the-world trip in Edinburgh in April and was just 2000 miles short of his 18,000 target when he had the accident.
And this was just one of a number of setbacks Josh faced – including sweat ruining his passport in Australia, which meant he had to fly back to Britain to get a new one before carrying on with his tour.
Before that and just weeks into his world attempt, thieves stole his bike from outside a hostel in London and severe cold weather forced him to change his route from Los Angeles to New York.
