A former Kent man who suffered horrendous injuries in a road accident will feature in a documentary to be aired on TV this month.

Multiple sclerosis specialist nurse Jason Wigham was on duty last September when his motorcycle collided with a car.

Air ambulance medics gave him two units of blood at the scene and 12 more during a short flight to hospital.

Speaking from his home in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, former Sheppey man Jason said: “There is no doubt I would have died but for their prompt action.

“My lower body took the full impact virtually shredding my bladder, but I was saved by the air jacket I was wearing.

“It acted as an airbag when I hit the tank and went over the handlebars.”

The 45-year-old remembered nothing more until he woke in the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, where wife Debbie is a staff nurse.

Trauma consultants were amazed he survived with such critical injuries and loss of blood.

His recovery is hailed as little short of a miracle.

Although damaged, his helmet prevented serious head injury other than concussion and a minor skull fracture.

After extensive surgery he remained in a critical condition for five days, and was in hospital for three months.

He is still in rehab and faces further operations.

Progress is slow but gritty determination has got him on his feet and he has taken his first faltering steps.

The rescue mission was filmed and used to promote the work of the Great North Air Ambulance.

This will appear on Sky 1 at 9pm on May 9.

Former Sheppey Comp pupil Jason has seen it and warns it is not for the squeamish.

Married with three children – two at university and the youngest due to start in September – he fears for the future.

Frustration and pain are felt in equal measure.

Here was a man who lived a healthy active life, exercising for fun and previously competing in three Great North runs.

He has an “open book” fractured pelvis, supported by a steel rod from hip to hip; a ruptured bladder, prostate and urethra and sacral nerve damage.

His right arm was fractured in 17 places and he has limited use of his hand.

“It’s fair to say I’ll never ride a motorcycle again, but I must work, even if it’s a desk job,” he said.

Island born, Jason attended Halfway, Danley and Sheppey Comprehensive schools.
Parents Rita and the late Les Wigham ran the former Greyhound pub on the Lower Road, which they re-named The Elm Tree.

He later joined the 4th Field Artillery Regiment, Royal Artillery, and served four years as a medic in Northern Ireland.

As a civilian he worked in various areas of nursing from oncology to prison nursing.

But he says the greatest job satisfaction has been as an MS specialist for the past nine years.

“Without sounding too dramatic, if I couldn’t have reached my patients by bike I would have walked,” he said.

“It’s fair to say I’ll never ride a motorcycle again, but I must work, even if it’s a desk job” - Jason Wigham

His riding career had been exemplary before the crash.

“I was on my way to see the last person of the day when I reached a remote part of Spennymoor. It was 5.30pm-ish and traffic was building up.

“Luckily witnesses to the accident called the emergency service and the helicopter was able to put down in a nearby field. And they were carrying blood supplies.”

The bloods had only been introduced on board a few months earlier.

A team of “blood bikers” had been set up in 2014 specifically to ferry supplies to the air ambulance each and every day.

Jason keeps in touch with all things Sheppey via his mother, Rita Wigham-McCall, brother Leigh and sister Denise Crawford.

To other bikers, including younger brother Leigh who lives on the Island, he can’t recommend air jackets enough.

“Sounds a bit strange to have a type of air bag on a bike, but they do save lives. Mine did,” he said.

The jacket has a long lanyard which attaches to the bike and inflates in a collision, safeguarding the upper body. The initial outlay is £300 but worth every penny in his book.