Gripping pictures tell of teenager's fightback from Chinese horror smash

Llangollen teenager Dyfan Hughes has used a series of pictures on a Facebook post to tell the story of his 45 days of recovery from an horrific crash with a lorry on a Chinese road which left him with a catalogue of serious injuries.

Along with his two friends of the same age Louis Dennis from Garth and James Thomas from Wrexham - together known as the Westheads - Dyfan was on one of the final stages of their 10,000-mile cycling trip to Thailand in memory of Tony Edge, the father of their friend Harrison, who died following a heart attack in 2024, and along the way raising over £50,000 for the British Heart Foundation.  

Dyfan was rushed to hospital in the city of Chengdu with injuries to both legs, neck and scalp and just over two weeks ago had major corrective surgery lasting for many hours.

Louis and James have already flown home to Wales after staying by is bedside along with his worried parents for an anxious couple of weeks. Dyfan will follow when he is strong enough for the flight home to continue his rehabilitation.

And, according to his latest social media update, he says that is likely to be next weekend.

His post takes the form of a montage of pictures, beginning with one showing the broken and twisted remains of his bike lying in the roadway where he was hit by the lorry. It bears the caption: "This is the state of the bike after!"

Next comes a shot of the HGV involved, captioned: "This is the truck that dealt the damage!"

Then comes a shot of him lying in his hospital bed battered and bruised soon after he was brought in by ambulance but still with his thumbs up. "This photo is only 36 hours after the accident in Teshan Hospital, which now I don't remember at all," he says on it.

Next is a picture of him looking more cheerful: "This is a week or two after in Chengdu, which is still where I am now."

Further pictures show him with Louis and James and his dedicated nurse - all wearing Wrexham shirts - and with his personal medic, Dr Liu, "the legend who has been amazing," a couple of days after his big operation. Dyfan adds: "He speaks perfect English also". 

The last picture in the series shows him lying in bed and is captioned: "And now my treatment has all been completed we are just waiting to get back to Wales safely so I can start my rehabilitation process ... We are hoping to be home by next weekend."

* Llanblogger is recording the Westheads' journey and Dyfan's crash. To follow them on their social media, go to: https://linktr.ee/westheads