RAPID STORIES - GLYN
“Over the years, I started to realise that with the right effort and determination, I could do a lot more than I thought.”
After losing a leg in a horrific biking accident, Glyn Theobald faced his worst fears, returned to riding and reclaimed a part of his life he thought he’d lost forever. His inspirational story reminds us that with courage and belief, we can all achieve great things.
Tell us about your accident.
It was July 2006, I was halfway around a bend when I was hit by a tractor that was coming the opposite way on my side of road. My right leg got caught in the tyre of the tractor, was spiralled around the wheel and destroyed. I was bleeding heavily from my femoral artery and had my mate not applied tourniquet, I would have died at the scene. I was airlifted to hospital where the surgeon told me the leg had to come off. It was removed that same day.
How long did it take to recover?
I was in hospital for 18 days. I then had a further 6 months of physio and training to learn how to walk again with my false limb. But by Christmas 2006, I could walk. It was the first step to my physical recovery.
How did losing your leg affect you mentally?
After about 9 months, with the realisation I had lost my leg, I though life wouldn’t be the same again. I knew how limited I was and how I wasn’t going to be able to do the things I wanted to do. It hit me quite hard that life had changed forever.
“I realised life wouldn’t be the same again. It hit me hard.”
You’re now riding on both road and track again, tell us about the journey back to biking?
I didn’t even think about bikes for over a decade – I just accepted it was one of the things I couldn’t do any more. But over the years, I started to realise that with the right effort and determination, I could do a lot more than I thought and I didn’t have to be limited by my disability. I started to find ways to do the things that mattered to me like downhill mountain biking.
Then, one day, I saw a picture of a KTM SAS and thought “that looks quite nice.” Something sparked in me and I went to have a look in the dealership. I sat on the bike but realised I couldn’t get my right leg on the floor. I looked at other manufacturers, but again, I couldn’t reach the floor on most of their models. But, seeing the bikes made me realise “I need one – and I need to ride again.”
I’d blocked it out of my mind for so many years. I’d accepted I was never going to ride again. But something inside me had been unleashed and I knew I needed one. I didn’t care about the manufacturer, the speed, the colour, or the model. I had no idea about disabled adaptions, or what I could do with the bike, I just knew I was going to make it happen – I was going to ride again.
Tell us about buying your first bike after the accident
It was October 2021, 16 years after my accident, when I bought my new bike. It was a KTM Super Duke. I knew it was the best bike for me (and I could get my foot on the floor).
None of the dealers would allow me to test ride their bikes because of my disability. So when KTM delivered my new bike, I had no idea if I could ride it. I looked at the bike, and if I’m honest, I was genuinely terrified. The fear wasn’t so much about crashing, it was more about whether I would freeze up or go into a panic attack. I had no idea how I would cope on the road.
But biking had always been an important part of my life and I wanted to reclaim it - I knew it was time to push through the fear. So I planned a trip which was one of my short cycle routes and which was familiar to me. Although it was only 40 miles long, I was so tense throughout the ride that by the time I returned home, I felt like I’d had a serious gym workout. I was absolutely exhausted. But 2 weeks later, when I went on my second ride, I knew I could do it and I wasn’t going to freeze. I loved it. I knew I’d made the right decision.
“I have claimed back what had been taken away from me and I’m the best rider I’ve ever been.”
You are now a fast track rider and a highly skilled road rider. How did you achieve that?
I had a fear of speed – I don’t know what my right leg is doing when I ride because there is no feeling. I couldn’t go fast – it was a serious mental block for me. There was still a real fear of crashing.
I started contacting rider training schools and when I explained my issues but none of them could help me. RAPID came up on Facebook and I decided to call them. I had a great conversation with Sue who wasn’t phased at all by my history. Since then, I have completed BIKEMASTER with them and am now a regular at their track events. It has been an absolute revelation.
I have claimed back what had been taken away from me and I’m now the best rider I’ve ever been. I do track days most months with RAPID and whenever I go home, I am absolutely buzzing. So much so, I’m on a warning from my other half who tells me it’s all I talk about for days after each event.
