Surviving a biking crash in Italy

By Jo Pattison
BBC Kent

Mike and Fay Vercoe

Fay Vercoe was on a motor biking holiday in Italy with her husband Mike and two friends when they were involved in a collision with a lorry.

Mike and their two friends didn't survive the crash and Fay suffered terrible injuries.

Waking up in the hospital Fay had no memories of the accident.

"I remember being told by the doctor that there had been two bikes with four people and that I was the only survivor," says Fay.

"Communication was not easy as they were trying to explain to me what they were doing or what they had done. I felt enormous relief when my family arrived and there was somebody there who could understand me, because my Italian is non existent."

Fay had weeks of treatment in Italy before being able to return home. "I was far too ill to be moved and, at times, it was touch and go, but once I started to mend I made it quite clear that I wanted to go home at the first opportunity."

Fay was brought back to Darent Valley Hospital and then she was moved to St George's Hospital in Tooting for specialist treatment. Initially it was thought she would be there for just a few days but those days became weeks.

However, she was adamant she would be back in Kent for Mike's funeral. "I said to the consultant right at the start I had to be back in Kent and I was going to be back in Kent, come hell or high water, to go to the funeral because I didn't get to see him before. They said they would guarantee it, even if they had to take an ambulance and deliver me themselves. It was such a fight but the minute they got me on my feet I thought I'm going to do this. I'm going get there."

Mike had bikes his whole life and loved the biking lifestyle

Fay recalls the day of Mike's funeral: "It was amazing - I knew Mike was a popular man, he has always been the life and soul of the party. He had a such huge enthusiasm for life. We hoped we may get 30 or 40 bikes but when we pulled up outside the Pied Bull and saw the crowds that were there, I just burst into tears. It was just overwhelming the support that we had. We lost count at 110 bikes and a lot of those had pillion riders. It got us through that day and I really didn't think I would get through the day."

Having already dealt with so much, Fay then learnt of the media's coverage of the collision in Italy. "We were named in national television before the family knew. My son's name was in my passport but it still took until the next day to find him which I thought was disgusting and, in the interim it was plastered all over the [media]. I just think it was disgusting, but it's too late now to take anything back."

There has been much speculation in the press about the crash, and Fay has her own view: "Both Colin and Mike are exceptionally good riders, hugely experienced at riding on the continent. If they made a mistake then they were led into a mistake. It's absolutely beyond comprehension that they would just be on the wrong side of the road. We've done thousands of miles on the continent and in America, it's inconceivable that they just made a silly mistake."

Fay believes an enquiry is underway into the crash in Italy, but she does not know what that entails. "It's not going to change anything, he's still gone. At this moment in time I'm not worried one way or another. In my own mind I know that Mike would never have done anything that would knowingly, or willingly, put him or me in danger and that's the answer I'm prepared to live with at the moment."