Earlier today (Monday) llanblogger went to the Wrexham Maelor Hospital to visit Dyfan Hughes, the 19-year-old Llangollen man now recovering after being seriously injured in China in early August as he was on a mammoth cycling trip to Thailand.
With the permission of his mum, Nia Hughes, we spent a few minutes speaking to him about his ordeal and of his encouraging rehabilitation over past weeks.
Dyfan was hit by a truck as he and fellow 19 year olds Louis Dennis from Garth and James Thomas from Wrexham - together known as the Westheads - were on one of the final stages of their 10,000-mile cycling trip in memory of Tony Edge, the father of their friend Harrison, who died following a heart attack in 2024, and along the way raised well over £50,000 for the British Heart Foundation.
Dyfan was rushed to hospital in the city of Chengdu with a catalogue of injuries to both legs, spine, neck and scalp and a few weeks ago had major corrective surgery lasting for many hours.
Following a flight of over 13 hours from China he is at last back home ... and promising he'll be back in the saddle as soon as he's fit enough.
Here is llanblogger's quick question-and-answer session with Dyfan:
Q: So how's it feel to be back home in Wales after what you've been through?
A: It feels amazing, a real breath of fresh air - being able to speak English to the staff members, seeing all my family and friends as well. It's just a really big boost for my brain! And getting up, being able to sit up practising hopping around. It feels really good to be able to move again.
Q: What about the people who've been in to visit you now your'e at the Maelor?
A: There's lots of people been in to visit me. It's been packed in here. Really, packed out with my friends and family, which is so nice. It makes the days go really quickly as well.
Q: What stage is your treatment at? Your mum tells me there's a possibility you might be coming home sometime this week.
A: Yeah. Well hopefully. I do still have a a big metal rod in my leg that they need to remove maybe in a couple weeks or so. And then after that it should be all done.
Q: What sort of a blow was it to you and the other lads - but you in particular - having to stop your journey because of the accident, especially after you had covered around 10,000 miles up to that point?
A: It was a huge blow but at that time I didn't really realise the extent of my injuries. I thought I'd be back on the bike in two months, but obviously, that was just me being a bit dizzy after the fall. And then I realised, oh gosh, we're gonna have to go home. I won't cycling again for another year or so, which is hard, but I know we'll be going back to finish it off as soon as I'm ready.
Q: You said a couple of times on your social media you'd be going back on the road when you're able. Is definitely your intention?
A: Yeah, definitely. We'll finish it. We'll start off where the crash happened and head down to Thailand. Maybe we'll take a different route as well, make it a bit longer. But guaranteed. I'm hoping that in around 10 months I'll be able to go and finish it off.
Q: How did your friend Harrison in Thailand, who you were heading out there to see, feel about you having the crash?
A: Well, it was just a huge change. You know, the plans have completely changed and it was sad that the crash happened, but he knows we'll be back down to see him as soon as we can.
Q: During the trip you raised a fantastic amount of money. How much is it now?
A: I think it's now £55,000, which is absolutely amazing.
Q: You have had lots of support from back home throughout the trip and particularly after the crash. How do you feel about that and do you have a message for everyone who supported you?
A: We can't thank everyone enough. They made that trip possible and to raise £55,000 when our original target was just £5,000 has just blown us all the way. Yeah, so really we can't thank everyone enough for the support they gave us.
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