A teacher who faced being paralysed after a horror 30mph crash has made a miraculous recovery to run a marathon just 10 months later.
Ali Kinge, 47, from Glenalmond, Perth, central Scotland, broke her back, neck and nose, following the accident on the first day of the school holidays.
The mother-of-three was flung into a field and knocked unconscious, after losing control of her bike on a rural road.
After coming round 30 minutes later – unable to move anything except her right arm – she scrambled for her mobile phone in her backpack, called her husband and then 999.
Ali Kinge, 47, from Glenalmond, Perth, central Scotland, faced being paralysed following a 30mph horror bike crash
Medics later fitted Ali with a full body brace, which she remained in for 10 weeks, and said her prognosis was ‘grave’, telling her that she risked being paralysed.
However, the deputy headteacher managed to make a full recovery and even ran the London marathon just 10 months later.
Discussing the horror crash for the first time, Ali admitted she was riding her bike faster than normal because she was rushing home for a gin and tonic.
She said: ‘I was eight miles into the 12-mile ride home. I knew my husband and boys had a nice cold gin and tonic and a barbeque waiting for me, so I decided to do a time trial, to see how fast I could cycle.
Ali had been cycling back from a friend’s house, on the first day of the summer holidays in July 2013, when she lost control of her bike.
She was left in a full body brace for 10 weeks, with doctors telling her husband that the prognosis was ‘grave’
However, Ali managed to defy doctor’s expectations and managed to make a complete recovery, running the London marathon just 10 weeks later
‘I started off at a fast pace, and as I came down the hill and around a corner, which leads into our glen, my front tyre seemed to catch the crumbling tarmac and I lost total control,’ she said.
‘I don’t remember anything else from the moment I was thrown over the fence. The next thing I knew, I’d woken up, lying on my back in a grass field about 30 minutes later.
‘My first thought was “I hope I don’t get sunburnt” as it was hot outside. But truly I don’t think I realised what had just happened to me and what a bad way I was in.’
Moving her right arm, Ali managed to grab hold of her bag and found her phone in the inside pocket.
Ali (pictured, from left to right, with sons Tristan, 15, Miles, 17, Laurence, 16, and husband Stephen) admitted she was cycling faster than normal to rush back home for a gin and tonic
She had been playing tennis with friend Liz (far right) before she had the bike accident
‘I found my mobile in my backpack and amazingly, in such a rural place, I had one small bar of signal to call my husband with,’ she went on.
‘That felt like a miracle in itself as there is usually no signal in that area. I knew where I was, so asked Stephen to come and get me, thinking I had been in a small accident and he’d just put my bike in the car.
‘But after I got off the phone to him I realised the enormity of what had happened. I thought I was paralysed. I tried to sit up or move around, but I couldn’t.’
That’s when Ali decided to call 999, telling the call handler she could not move anything apart from her right arm.
Liz broke her back, neck and nose, following the accident on the first day of the school holidays
She was flown to hospital in air ambulance, after paramedics said it wasn’t safe to drive her there. Pictured is Ali being put into the air ambulance
Following tests, Ali’s husband Stephen was told that his wife faced being left in a wheelchair
But three weeks later a consultant gave a glimmer of home, as it looked like Ali was making an amazing recovery. Her physiotherapist decided to put her in a full body brace (pictured)
Her husband and an ambulance arrived within 10 minutes, with paramedics telling Ali that she needed to be flown to Ninewells hospital, in Dundee, as it would not be safe to drive her to she needed to be flown there.
‘It must have been the morphine, but apparently I was shouting “you don’t need to put me in a coffin, I’m not dead yet,” as they put me, on a stretcher, into the back of the helicopter,’ she recalled.
Her husband Stephen drove to the hospital to be with his wife, while a neighbour looked after their three sons Miles, 17, Laurence, 16, and Tristan, 15,
After being taken in for MRI and CT scans, Ali’s husband Stephen was taken into a side room and given some devastating news.
Speaking about the horror crash for the first time, Ali described how she was knocked unconscious after being flung off her bike
After coming round 30 minutes later – unable to move anything except her right arm – she scrambled for her mobile phone in her backpack, called her husband and then 999
Her husband drove to hospital to be with Ali, while a neighbour looked after their sons
‘Out of my earshot, the consultant told Stephen it was very grave,’ Ali said.’I’d broken my neck and back in two places as well as all the bones in my nose.
‘He said we were looking at paraplegia and Stephen should go home and make sure we had access to everything on one level, because I’d possibly end up in a wheelchair.
‘It was absolutely devastating for him, but I was oblivious and determined to get myself moving and walking.’
With their sons staying with Ali’s sister Helen Ledger in London over the next week, Stephen sat by his wife’s bedside as she was completely unable to move and using a catheter.
Ali was allowed home from hospital just two months after her horrific bike accident
The deputy headteacher, pictured with husband Stephen, returned to work just two months after the crash – while still wearing the full body cast
Ali (pictured with niece Beth) had to wear her body brace for ten weeks and have regular physiotherapy
To add to Ali’s injuries, she was told her bowel had gone into shock after the accident, which slowed down her recuperation.
But into the third week in hospital, a consultant gave a glimmer of home – it looked like Ali was making an amazing recovery.
She said: ‘I was desperate to try to start moving, so I saw a physiotherapist who wanted to put me into a full body brace, which they said would help me make small movements.’
So, fitted in a brace from her neck down to her groin, Ali began to make tiny steps from getting out of bed, to walking down the corridor.
Ali (pictured on a skiing holiday just months after her accident) said she was determined to get herself moving and walking again
The teacher even took part in the London marathon the following year, finishing in four hours and 39 minutes
Ali put her incredible recovery in such a short period of time down to her ‘positive mindset’
‘Amazingly, four weeks after the accident, they sent me home. I had to wear the brace for 10 weeks and had regular physio but at least I could be with my family.
‘We went to our second home in Gairloch, in the north-western Highlands, where I took things easy and made steady progress.’
Ali made an incredible recovery, even returning to work just two months after the horror crash – while still wearing the full body cast.
‘I think it must have been my positive mind-set that I wasn’t going to let this happen to me,’ she said.
‘So, when I finally had the brace taken off after 10 weeks, I was determined to try and start jogging again.’
Ali says she wouldn’t have been taking part in the marathon, never mind walking, if it hadn’t been for the Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance
She has fundraised for the SCAA and has given talks on her crash to raise the charity’s profile
Against all odds, Ali even took part in the London marathon the following year, finishing in four hours and 39 minutes.
Describing the experience, she said: ‘Crossing the finish line, I had a huge rush of pride.
‘I really wouldn’t have been taking part in the marathon, never mind walking, if it hadn’t been for the Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA), which run Scotland’s only charity-funded air ambulance helicopter and took me to hospital, I wouldn’t have been running, let alone walking.’
She has continued fundraising for Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) and has given talks on her crash to raise the charity’s profile.