A young man hit in a horrific crash at a car meet has suffered a catalogue of devastating injuries and had a large metal plate inserted into his arm.
Rhys Hunt, 20, was forced to apply for Universal Credit because of his injuries in the smash last month.
He was one of 17 young people hurt after a blue Nissan 350Z collided with a black Toyota GT86 and both cars hit spectators in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.
Rhys was standing in the car park with girlfriend Maya Atkins, 17, who herself fell unconscious.
Both were dashed to hospital with serious injuries, the Hertfordshire Mercury reports.
"She was unconscious for a minute or two minutes and was a bit confused when she came to, which was understandable," Rhys said.
"I just looked at it and thought ‘What can I do?’ I was just trying to help her and my mate.
"I remember waking up and my leg just hanging there limply, unable to move. I dragged myself over to Maya, who was having some sort of panic attack or seizure. I was trying to calm her down."
Rhys, from Hatfield, Hertfordshire, remained in hospital for two weeks, having broken both bones in his lower right leg, fractured his knee in his left leg, and also broken his right arm, which has been operated on with metal plate work.
He is now using a wheelchair during his rehabilitation, as crutches are not a possibility without the use of his arm.
The self-employed car fanatic continued: "It’s been horrible but the staff have been lovely and friendly to talk to about it.
"They were as shocked as me by what had happened, and I don’t think I could have got through it without them."
But as Rhys works for himself, and therefore not entitled to sick pay, he will have to apply for Universal Credit to cover his living costs while unable to work.
The couple need to pay for ramps to be put in at Maya's parents house in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, where he is currently staying.
Maya said: "He can’t work but he’s still got bills to pay which is hard. Our lives have been on hold at the moment.
"We have gone through all the footage of the crash over and over again just trying to put it back together. It was a major shock.
"It’s cost quite a lot of money already and it’s just hard. We just want to get more money for him because we don’t want him to in debt."
A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help cover some of the costs of Rhys' rehabilitation.
You can donate here .
