Cyclist loses memory after crash
Neil Wolfson sustained a variety of injuries in his head-on collision
Mansfield finalist Neil Wolfson was admitted to hospital last Friday evening after a head-on bike collision outside the King’s Arms pub. The PPE student sustained injuries including broken bones, severe back pain, and a black eye, and when he regained consciousness he had absolutely no idea what year it was, or what he was doing there. Wolfson had been cycling to a lecture when he collided with another cyclist who has not yet been identified.
No witnesses of the accident have come forward, and Wolfson’s understanding of the event relies wholly on guesswork, since the severe blow to his head has wiped out all memory of his movements last Friday. Paramedics told him the injuries Wolfson sustained suggest he fell headfirst over the handlebars of his bicycle, probably after breaking very quickly.
“Presumably someone is to blame,” he said, “I assume someone in front of me must have pulled out without looking - but cyclists who can’t look behind them shouldn’t be on the roads.” The incident took place at the Kings Arms junction at the end of Broad Street at about 5pm on Friday evening. The concussed third year was found by concerned students and treated by paramedics, before being sent to the Radcliffe infirmary for further tests.
Mansfield undergraduate Shanthi Wilkinson was passing through Broad Street just after the accident and saw Wolfson on the corner opposite the Kings Arms being treated by paramedics. “He was really pale and had blood dripping from his head,” she said. “I asked the other people what had happened. They told me that he and another person on a bike had had a collision.
The other guy was in the ambulance car sitting down whilst the other ambulance man was treating Neil - the second guy had not been hurt very badly - apparently a few cuts and bruises.” Paramedics confirmed another individual had been treated at the scene but the details of his identity were withheld from Wolfson under data protection legislation.
No workers from the Kings Arms, the Tuck Shop on Hollywell Road or the History Faculty saw the accident happen, but the manager of the King’s Arms said, “All these students fly past here on bikes, through red lights and without a helmet. It was going to happen sooner or later.” Wolfson explained how he recalls attending a lecture that day at around 3pm and then waking up in the hospital. “The bits in between only appear to me as dreams.
“I remember a girl was looking after me and I was talking to her. I’d really like to express my gratitude to her,” he continued. “I woke up in hospital and I couldn’t remember what year it was and I didn’t have a clue what I was doing there. It was quite frustrating,” said the third year. “When I was told it was 2006 I was genuinely shocked. I thought it was maybe 2004, 2005 at a push.
I knew 2006 was the year of my finals and it is a world cup year and that couldn’t be right in my head. Hopefully my long-term memory will be absolutely fine but the day itself might just remain a blur. “It is frustrating not knowing why it happened or whose fault it was. I’d like to think not mine, but I just don’t know.” The Thames Valley Police are not investigating the incident, as a collision between two bikes does not qualify as a road traffic accident.
The incident has a particular irony for Wolfson who last Trinity appeared in a student short film about road safety on bicycles. In the film he played a boy who is killed after being knocked off his bicycle by a car. Friday’s incident has parallels with this film, as in both cases he did not wear a protective bicycle helmet and suffered very similar injuries. “When I get back on a bike, I will be wearing a helmet,” said Wolfson, “I’d be a fool not to.”
2nd Mar 2006