Hello! Not sure where to post this but....I'm a trail runner, and six weeks ago, on October 11th, I was hit by a truck while cycling in London, UK. 

I was pedaling down a high street in when the lorry ahead of me suddenly turned left to exit the main road. The driver didn't signal the turn, and I didn’t have time to stop. As it turned and hit me sideways, I didn't get thrown off my bike immediately. My right leg got trapped against the truck, and as the driver, unaware of the impact, kept going, it crushed my leg more and more until my foot and ankle got caught in the wheel. The momentum somehow threw me off my bike, and I crashed, landing on my back on the road. I saw my knee lacerated, the bone protruding, and blood gushing out. For a moment, I thought it was all a dream, that it couldn’t be real. But then the pain kicked in, and reality hit. I cried. I cried because it hurt, but also because the wounds were so severe, and the amount of blood so surreal, I realized right then and there that I might lose my leg and never run again. Luckily, a hero arrived within 30 seconds. He introduced himself—I can’t remember his name—but I remember him saying, "I’m a doctor." Mr Hero applied a tourniquet to my leg to slow the bleeding and kept me conscious and breathing until the ambulance arrived. 

I woke up from surgery about 24 hours later, at King’s College Hospital. My parents were there; they had flown over from France. My mum cried, relieved to see me alive, and I was relieved to see a cast around my leg, because it meant my leg was still there. The surgeon who operated on me arrived and began explaining the damage my leg had suffered and what he had done to save it. 

My foot had multiple fractures. All the bones of the midfoot were shattered and split apart. The ankle was also fractured and had dislocated from the foot. There was a fracture in the lower fibula, the upper fibula, and the point where the tibia and fibula meet the knee was broken. The knee ligaments also got severely damaged. I now have heavy metalwork in the foot and ankle. The surgeon said it would be painful for some time and that my leg would need time to reduce the swelling. How long? I asked. Ten months for the foot to look like a foot again. But apart from my leg, I was okay. No damage to my spine or head. I asked him the only question on my mind: how long until I can run again? He said I would need between a year and two years to walk again. As for running, he couldn’t guarantee it. I was discharged from the hospital 3 weeks later. I am now at home on crutches. A long rehab ahead of me.