A MOTORCYCLIST left paralysed after he came off his bike last year has spoken out in a bid to inspire others that life in a wheelchair is still rosy.

Dean Pitcher, of Chapman Road in Stevenage, remembers nothing of the accident at 7.45am on June 26 which left him fighting for his life.

He had been travelling down Lytton Way in Stevenage, in the direction of Tesco, when he came off his bike at a roundabout.

Dean, 24, suffered severe head injuries and swelling to his brain. “The thing that saved me was having a fractured skull, because it relieved the pressure,” he explained.

Dean also broke his neck and back in five places, which included damage to his spinal cord.

He spent almost eight months in hospital, and was finally discharged on February 18.

Dean has no feeling or movement from his belly button down, and has adapted to using a wheelchair.

His spinal cord is damaged, but has not been severed, so it is possible he could walk again.

“The swelling needs to go down for me to get the use of my legs back,” he explained. “It could go down over the next five or 10 years, or it may be like that forever. I look on the positive side.”

He added: “I have learnt how to use my new body, and to live life in a wheelchair.

“I could have died that day – the police initially filed it as a fatality.

“I’m just happy to have gotten through it.”

Dean, who has been living with his parents, has bought a flat in Stevenage which is currently being adapted by his father so it is wheelchair-friendly.

“A lot has been done by my family and friends to make my every day life easier,” he said.

“I would really like to thank my mum, Linda, dad, Dave, and brother, Scott, who have been really supportive.”

Asked why he decided to tell The Comet his story, Dean said: “I want to show people that life does go on.

“I am back at work [at MBDA in Stevenage] and can go out for a drink with friends or for a meal with my family and girlfriend.

“I have learnt a lot about life through this. I didn’t realise I am really lucky until now.”