HURTLING downhill at 25mph, an idyllic ride through the Italian countryside quickly turned into a nightmare for Phones4U founder John Caudwell when his front tyre suddenly exploded.
The British billionaire, 68, was left fighting for his life after suffering a shattered shoulder, punctured lung and 11 broken bones.
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He was on holiday in Italy and training for his annual Caudwell Children charity bike ride fundraiser when the horror accident happened – and he credits his helmet for saving his life.
Despite being barely able to breathe, John astonishingly managed to call partner Modesta Vžesniauskaitė, while a nearby driver phoned an ambulance.
Speaking exclusively to Central Recorder Online, John admitted: “I’m 99 per cent certain that if I hadn’t been wearing a helmet I would have paid with my life.
“The accident came out of nowhere. My front tire exploded, sending me to the ground as I was riding down the first downhill bend.
“I knew I’d done something serious as I couldn’t breathe and I was in agony in my shoulder and rib cage.”
The worst was to come
John was rushed to a hospital near Florence, where he was unable to communicate with staff who didn’t speak any English.
He describes his five day stay in the medical facility as “agonising” from the treatment to open back up his collapsed lungs to nurses attempting to give him a bed bath.
According to him, he had Covid-19 two years prior to his holiday. He was then given a PCR test at hospital and it returned positive. This meant that medics were forced into placing him on a covid ward.
John said: “The worst was yet to come after the accident. They had to inject some anesthesia into my chest to re-inflate the lung.
“At first it wasn’t too bad but the deeper the drill got, the worse the pain got.
“Thanks to the lung being aspirated [entering by accident] as it went, the local anaesthetic was being pushed away which made it hurt more.”
‘Most horrendous week of my life’
Once his lung was back up and running he was moved to the covid ward and told by doctors not to move.
But sadly this message hadn’t been relayed to the nurse who kept trying to move John for a bed-bath – and they couldn’t communicate with one another.
He added: “It was terrifying having these people in hazmat suits appear every few hours and try to move all my limbs. There was nothing I could do to stop it, even though I knew they shouldn’t do it.
“I was in so much pain, I didn’t have the energy to argue. It was the most horrendous week of my life.”
During his stint at the Italian hospital, John’s partner and family weren’t able to visit him and their plans to move him back to a hospital near home in Monaco were nearly scuppered.
Due to his lung puncture, the business leader and philanthropist wasn’t supposed to fly, but luckily he was allowed to as long as the pilot stayed at a low altitude.
After moving hospitals, it was discovered that John had a broken hip and other injuries. He was left wheelchair bound until the injury healed.
He said: “We had a battle to move me. I was a covidleper in a ward that no one could speak a language I understood.
“Now I’ve got a long road ahead of me when it comes to operations but at least I know what’s going on.
“The hardest bit in a way is not being able to lead my charity bike ride this year because I really love helping others.”
John had a plate placed in his collarbone last week to realign it with the fractures on his left side.
The operation went well and he insisted he is in good spirits and is “putting his limited French to use with the nursing staff”.
The Caudwell Children charity supports disabled children and strives to ensure they have equal opportunities to succeed.
John will be there to support John during his six-weeks of rehabilitation.
The Monte Carlo one-day challenge is this year’s start and finish point. Competitors can choose the distance they want, from 30km up through 85km.
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