A cyclist’s life was saved after he was knocked off his bike by a hit-and-run driver – and a scan revealed he had a brain tumour.
Ashley James, 20, suffered severe head injuries when he was mown down by a speeding driver who left him for dead in the road.
The graphic designer was found lying in a pool of blood in Parker Drive, Leicester, by a lorry driver and he was rushed to hospital following the crash on April 1.
Incredibly, a CT scan revealed Ashley had been suffering from a potentially life-threatening brain tumour.
Ashley, of Beaumont Leys, Leicester, said: “In a strange way the hit-and-run driver saved my life.
“I don’t have any recollection of the crash but I was taking my mountain bike to Halfords to have the brakes looked at and I was hit by a car.
“I was knocked into the road but the car drove off. They must have known they’d hit me because my bike was wrecked. I was left for dead in the road.
“I stupidly hadn’t put on my helmet because the shop was only round the corner from my house. My bike was wrecked, the car must have been damaged by the impact.
“A lorry driver stopped and found me by the road with a head injury and my bike badly damaged.
“Apparently, I was alert then and said I was okay.
“He took me home and my step-dad took one look at me and called for an ambulance.”
He was rushed to Leicester Royal Infirmary where a scan revealed he had a tumour the size of an orange in the centre of his brain.
He was put in an induced coma and transferred to the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham which specialises in brain surgery where he underwent two operations.
Surgeons fitted a shunt to drain the fluid from his brain and took a biopsy from the tumour.
Ashley is currently waiting for the results of the operation which will reveal whether the tumour is cancerous.
Ashley added: “When I was at the infirmary, I started having seizures so they gave me a brain scan and found that I had fluid on my brain from the crash but also a tumour.
“The accident happened on April 1 and I don’t remember much about that day, but then on April 3 I woke up tied to a machine at Queen’s Medical Centre, panicking like hell.
“I was wondering what I was doing in hospital and I was told I’d been knocked off my bike by an unknown driver.
“I’d suffered two massive blows to my head.”
Ashley was discharged nine days later but still cannot go out without supervision because he can suffer severe seizures at any time.
He said: “I want to thank the recovery driver, but also thank whoever knocked me off my bike because I’ve found out I have the brain tumour, which I didn’t know before my accident.
“The driver could have killed me but I could also have been killed by the tumour so I actually feel incredibly lucky.
“I’m still waiting to hear whether the tumour is cancerous. if it is then hopefully it can be treated by chemotherapy.
“The doctors said it had been detected early so if it turns out to be cancer I stand a good chance of recovery.”
Leicestershire Police investigated the hit-and-run but no arrests have been made.
