Round-the-world cyclist heads home after road collision

A round-the-world cyclist who survived serious injuries following a horror crash in the US is to fly home to Scotland.

Josh Quigley, 27, was airlifted to hospital in Texas after being hit by a car while cycling at night in December last year.

He suffered a fractured skull and pelvis, ten broken ribs and a punctured lung when he was hit by a car believed to be travelling at around 70mph.

Mr Quigley, who said he was “lucky to be alive” after the smash on December 21, did not think he would be able to fly home until February because of his punctured lung.

But the injury healed sooner than expected and Mr Quigley, from Livingston, West Lothian is set to travel home to Scotland on Thursday after four weeks in hospital.

He will fly from Austin, Texas, to Glasgow Airport via London, accompanied by an insurance company doctor.

Mr Quigley said: “I should be home for dinner on Friday night. It’s going to be so amazing. I’m just so excited to get home.

“This has been such an incredible experience. It might seem like a mental thing to say, but it’s absolutely been one of the best experiences of my life.

“I’m going to get back to Scotland and all I’m going to be doing is just training, training, training.

“By the time this recovery is done I’m going to be fitter than I was when I got hit.

“Think about that – fitter after the accident than before it, that is superhuman. Happy days.”

Mr Quigley, who set off from Edinburgh in April, was 2000 miles short of his 18,000 round-the-world target when he was hit by a car.

The driver, a 60-year-old woman, was not charged as the crash investigation found it was an accident.

The crash was one of a series of setbacks the cyclist has face since he set off.

Just weeks after setting off from Edinburgh his bike was stolen from outside a hostel in London.

And in November he was forced to fly home to Scotland for a day to renew his passport after it was ruined by sweat and he was refused entry into the US.