Man reflects on decade since life-changing crash, defying 25% survival odds

A man who was given a 25% chance of surviving after sustaining a serious brain injury when he was struck by a car a decade ago is setting his sights on a career in music.

Harry Davies, 21, from Haddington in East Lothian, was left in a coma for two weeks in 2013 after being struck by a van as he cycled home from school when he was 11.

Marking almost a decade since the life-changing collision, Mr Davies hopes that by sharing his journey, he can help end the stigma around brain injuries.

“Life is already delicate so there’s no point in wasting time being scared of the life you have when you could be enjoying it instead,” Mr Davies said.

He underwent emergency surgery on June 3, 2013 to tackle a bleed on the brain and was also fitted with a special bolt to relieve the pressure inside his skull.

Paramedics found him unresponsive on the B6363 near Haddington and rushed him to the Royal Hospital for Sick Kids in Edinburgh.

It is thought his cycling helmet was the only reason he survived.

Mr Davies’s father Nick recalled the moment he first saw his son in hospital, saying: “It’s only in the past couple of years I’ve been table to talk about this without crying.

“When I first saw Harry he was wired up to machines and monitors… it was just shocking.”

Mr Davies feels he was treated differently during his teenage years as a result of the injury.

“I didn’t really understand the severity of everything until a few months after I woke from the coma when the specialists told me there was a real chance I could have died,” he said.

“The odds were something like a 75% chance of dying – talking about that now feels weird when I think about how well my recovery has been.”

Mr Davies’s physical recovery was hailed as remarkable by medics.

School staff insisted a minder walk with him in corridors and he was not allowed to participate in sports or PE on the advice of medical staff.

“My friends, school and people outside my family were very delicate with me for a long time during my teenage years,” he said.

“I had to tell them ‘Look, I’m fine – you don’t need to hover around me like I’m made of glass’.

“Some people thought I was more outgoing as a child before the accident and then after I was more withdrawn – but it’s impossible to say if that was because of the crash or because it was normal teenage angst.”

Mr Davies’s passion has always been music.

He said: “I play guitar and drums and I’ve always loved that but it’s in music production where I hope to progress and something I’d very much like to get serious about.

“It provides a great creative outlet for me, a bit therapeutic as well, but it’s definitely more than a hobby and I’m already creating music and hope to build more projects there.

His father added: “There were times we did wonder if the Harry we have now is the Harry he was always meant to be even without the crash?

“The way Harry recovered has been incredible and we are under no illusion with the luck we have – he was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash so when we think about how much that helped as well it should offer an important reminder.

“Even the crash – Harry was hit on a rural road yet received immediate help from an off-duty firefighter who happened to be passing and it turned out that firefighter just had head injury refresher training the week before.”