'Miraculous’ recovery for Chesterfield man who suffered 'catastrophic' injuries after being hit by car

Ian Rickels was hit by a car on the December 9 last year and spent 43 days in hospital.

He was attended by air ambulance at the scene of the accident in Chesterfield and rushed to Northern General hospital.

The 67-year-old sustained a catastrophic brain injury and also broke his neck, nine ribs, a shoulder blade, his jaw, fractured his skull and punctured his lung.

His wife Jill and son Harry were told it was unlikely he would survive the night and they should call Ian’s other sons and wider family to come to the hospital to say their goodbyes.

Harry Rickels, 31, said: “When we arrived at A&E, they took me and my mum straight into the family room and just said, ‘Sorry your dad has been hit by a car and he has sustained a catastrophic head injury. He is not likely to survive, there is no operation that can save him.”

“I’m sitting there with my mum, thinking an hour ago I was picking up a sandwich in Morrisons, and now I’m being told that my dad’s about to die.”

Luckily, doctors at Northern General decided to put Mr Rickels in an induced coma to try and give him a chance of survival.

The retired teacher was in an induced coma for five days whilst his family did everything they could to wake him.

“They say the last thing that goes is your hearing,” said Harry, a primary school Assistant Headteacher.

“We were playing some of his favourite music just to see if we could spark some sort of emotion. We were playing the dog barking because his whole life revolves around her.”

Several days after the drugs keeping Mr Rickels in a coma were withdrawn, he began to show slow signs of progress, first flicking the fingers on his right hand and then managing to

open his eyes.

“On the December 28 my mum went up to go and see him and he was sat up and they’d taken his tube out.” Harry said.

“He was breathing independently.

“When she went to say goodbye to him, she took her mask down and went to go and kiss him on the forehead, and he pursed his lips, so she gave him a kiss on his lips. The nurse who was there cried; she said she just couldn’t believe it.”

Mr Rickels was then transferred to Royal Hallamshire Hospital where the family were no longer able to visit due to Covid-19 protocols.

Despite this he continued to make remarkable progress and was soon able to walk and have short conversations with his family via Facetime.

He was transferred after two weeks to Chesterfield Royal Hospital so he could be closer to his family.

Harry Rickels said: “I phoned the hospital to ask, can we walk to the window and wave and can we take the dog just to lift his spirits?”

“The nurse said ‘We are hoping to send him home today’. We hadn’t seen him for two weeks and this was only three weeks after being taken of life support. My mum rushed out to buy him his favourite tea.”

Less than two weeks after Mr Rickels had taken his first steps after sustaining his injuries, he was able to come home.

Harry Rickels said: “We went to pick my dad up and he just walked around the corner with two bags in his hand and said ‘Hiya’. I couldn’t believe it, and I still can’t believe it now. It’s miraculous.”

Since then, Mr Rickels’ recovery has continued, celebrating his 67th birthday last week and walking seven and a half miles.

He has also been able to get to know his grandson, Teddy, who was born just a few months before the incident.

He said; “Thank you to everyone who has helped to save my life.”

Mr Rickels’ three sons, and his eldest son Harry’s partner Jasmine, 31, will be doing a 10k run in May to raise money for Neurocare and the Air Ambulance service.

Ian, his wife Jill, their sons and their partners along with his grandson Teddy.

Jasmine said: “We just want to help other families that are going through the same thing, because we wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”

The family have set up a Gofundme page which has raised nearly £3,000 since being set up last Friday, eclipsing their original target.

“We thought £500 was a big target but we might just scrape it together by May with people chucking a fiver here and there. Then it just took off,” said Jasmine.

The family hope the fundraiser can mainly benefit families who have been affected by brain injuries.

“We are here to try and spread hope,” said Harry.

“It can happen to anybody. The fact that we’ve got him back and he is remarkably normal is all we could have ever wished for and more.”

Anyone who wishes to donate to the Rickels’ family fundraiser can do so by clicking here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/38fkw4-help-brain-injury-patients?qid=fed382cf2e1a3de2a7ed615c7ebb1c2f