A TEENAGE cyclist suffered horror injuries when he was thrown from his bike during a charity race after hitting a pothole.

Ollie Pike, 15, swerved to miss a large crater in the road but steered into another pothole, catapulting him over the handlebars.

He suffered a broken collar bone, a possible fractured cheek bone and deep cuts to his face and head and was rushed to hospital amid fears he had a serious back injury.

After 12 hours of tests, scans and X-rays, Ollie was discharged with his collarbone in a sling and six stitches to his face.

Mum Louise, 44, said: “It was absolutely terrifying to get a phone call from Ollie’s friends to say he had fallen and paramedics were on the way.

“Your mind goes into overdrive and you start thinking of every possible scenario.

“When your child hits their head like that it is pretty scary.

“Luckily we weren’t that far away so we were able to rush to where he was, and his friends were keeping me updated the entire time.”

The teenager said he could not remember much about the bike crash but recalls being surrounded by people shouting for an ambulance.

“I was going down this hill that I’ve cycled up hundreds of times before so I know where all the holes are,” he said.

“I moved out the way for a hole and I landed straight in another one.

“I remember feeling myself hit the hole and then I don’t really remember a lot else.

“I remember only being able to see out of one eye and people coming towards me shouting for an ambulance and I saw my blood running down the hill.

Ollie, from Chedglow near Malmesbury, was taking part in a Cirencester Ride 24/7 Bike Club sponsored event on March 9 when the accident happened.

He hit the pothole which was 15 inches long and seven inches wide, while cycling on Dowers’ Lane in Daglingworth.

The keen cyclist, who rides at least 70 miles a week and was wearing a helmet, was immediately surrounded by friends following his fall, and onlookers provided blankets and pillows to keep him warm.

“Thankfully there was a mountain rescue cyclist behind him, and a fireman a little further back so they immediately knew what to do and attended to him before the paramedics arrived.”

Mum Louise said: “Luckily Ollie was on a sponsored ride and there were no cars on the road, it doesn’t bear thinking about if there had been.

“My husband and I had been chatting just days before about a cyclist who died after being flung off his bike by a pothole, it is really worrying.

“Ollie was so mature about the whole thing, he didn’t complain once, and apparently the first thing he asked when someone rushed to him was ‘how’s my bike?’”

The teenager was rushed to Gloucester Royal Hospital’s paediatric unit where doctors treated his injuries and stitched up a deep wound on his right eyebrow.

Ollie, who is in the middle of his mock GCSEs, was off school for a week. It is expected his right arm will be in a sling for another four weeks until his collar bone fully heals.

“I wouldn’t have thought a pothole could cause so much damage,” Louise added.

“He was very brave but it has affected him a lot, he gets very tired now and I think that is all part of the trauma affecting him.

“I don’t think it will stop him getting back on his bike though.”

Ollie’s family are now pursuing compensation from Gloucestershire County Council.

A spokesman for the council said: “We aren’t able to comment on individual cases, however we do respond to reported potholes and scheduled inspections of our roads.”

Ollie was given a week off school to recover from his injuries before he went back to sit his GCSE mock exams. He said the crash is all still a bit hazy to him.

“I wasn’t really in a lot of pain until I got into hospital and the adrenaline had gone,” he said.

“Doctors told me I broke my collar bone, have a possible fractured cheek bone and a lot of cuts and bruises everywhere.”

“I want to get back on my bike as soon as I can though,” he added.

“I really enjoy it, I love everything about it. I’ve been riding since I was about five, I just love it.”