JAMES Bradley was waiting for a bus when a car ploughed into him with such force that his brain flipped inside his skull.
What was just a moment in the life became a three-year battle to saveJames’ through 10 gruelling .
James, who was visiting from at the time of the brutal hit-and-run on Bushey High Street, , on Boxing Day 2021, had to completely relearn how to read, write, speak and walk in the wake of his ordeal.
The high-flying project manager, now 37, tells : “I was just crossing the road and the guy hit me out of nowhere. I was knocked completely unconscious.
“He slung me from the right-hand side. I smacked my arm against the windscreen and smashed my head against the floor.
“I landed right in the middle of the road, and the bus nearly ran me over as well.”
After stopping down the road just moments after hittingJames, then 34, the driver fled the scene - leaving his innocent victim helpless on the tarmac.
He says: “My friends saw me in the middle of the road, then noticed the driver stop and get out of the car.
“He started swearing because he’d seen me on the ground.
“I believe he wiped down the steering wheel, then took his possessions and just ran off.
“There was a pub next door and he ran through the garden and jumped over the fence.”
Jamessays there were drugs and in the vehicle, and the car didn’t even belong to him.
AsJames’ panic-stricken pals waited for an ambulance to arrive, two heroic nurses, who were held up in the cordon, rushed over to help.
He says: “Jodie Bannister and Mary Walsh saw me lying in the road and raced over.
“Jodie got her coat and wrapped me in it.”
On the way to in ,James’ heart stopped.
Thankfully, medics were able to stabilise him in time to deliver him to intensive care.
He adds: “I went straight in to have a CT scan and then immediately into surgery.
“They had to cut open my skull to relieve the pressure on my brain.
“They said my brain flipped from one side to the other. The pressure on my brain had moved the actual brain itself.”
James’ elbow was also shattered into 50 pieces, and he had to have sections of his leg and hip removed to help rebuild the joint.
After his life-saving surgery, he was placed into a medical - one that doctors were unsure if he would ever wake up from.
James’ brother, Paul, says the family would video call the ward every day in the desperate hope for positive change.
Paul, 40, says: “Back then, we were still dealing with the ramifications of , so we had to do a lot of Zoom calls.
“Every day he was in a coma, we phoned as a family and would say, ‘Any change?’ and they would say, ‘No’.
“We did this for weeks, but it felt like months.”
Miraculously,Jamesdefied the doctors’ fears, and he woke up after three and a half weeks - but he’s still got a long way to go.
It’s one of the best things that’s happened tome because now I’ve learned the true aspect of life
James Bradley
Jamessays: “I’m still not fully there yet.
“I’ve only just finalised my rehabilitation three years after the accident because the injury was on the left side of my brain, which impacts your speech and language.
“I’ve had four surgeries on my brain and another four on my elbow.
“I still have one functional arm and two more surgeries to go, so I’m still not finished.
“I’ll probably never be finished, but I’ll always look to move forward.”
Jameshas also developed and has suffered six severe seizures, oneof which resulted in his head being re-stitched.
His memory has also been heavily affected.
After a procedure to add newplates under his scalp to replace the missing half of his skull,he developed an infection.
James says: “Because I had my head open, I essentially didn’t have a skull, just skin covering my brain.
“On the daythat the tissue around my metal skullgot infected, they had to cut muscle out of my face, just above my temple, to get into the actual infection part of myskull.
“When they do these head surgeries, you have to have half your skull taken out, and you lie in bed with the worst headaches for weeks.
“Then you come out again and have to rebuild. It was demoralising.”
I was at the bottom of the barrel and felt I had nothing left in my life to live for anymore. I was completely broken.
James
Despite saving his life, the countless operations and the visible damage toJames’ face and head left him .
He says: “I was at the bottom of the barrel and felt I had nothing left in my life to live for anymore. I was completely broken.
“I didn’t want to go outside. I didn’t want people to see me.
“I hated the way I looked, so I didn’t really want to goto thegym, but I eventually plucked up the courage to go back.
“Because I’ve been in hospital for so long, I’ve lost all my muscle.
“I’ve been trying to rebuild the muscle and get my life back.”
Because the years after his accident were a blur of hospital visits, surgeries and rehabilitation, the severity ofJames’ injuries didn’t fully register until he returned to St Mary’s Hospital for a check-up in 2022.
After chatting about his time in the ICU, a doctor suggested he visit the wardwhere he spent weeks in a coma.
WhenJameswalked through the doors and laid eyes on his personal nurse, Rebecca, she struggled to hold back tears.
Paul, a personal trainer, says: “These nurses have to be ‘on it’, and all they are dealing with is negativity and drama - bad, bad people who are close to death.
“Rebecca came out, almost crying, and toldJames, ‘We never get to see the success stories, we never find out what happens when people leave here’.
“She turned around toJamesand told him how pleased she was to see him because he was the sickest person on the ward.
“I think that was the moment when it really hit home forJames.
“I think until then, the penny hadn’t dropped. In that moment, he realised he’d had a second lease of life.”
‘Life is so precious’
James, who once worked for Exxon Mobil, one of the biggest oil and gas companies in the world, is now writing a .
He hopes The Will To Survive will inspire others who have experienced life-changing injuries.
But writing has come with its challenges.Jamessays he often gets tired after looking at a screen for prolonged periods and sometimes the words don’t flow as easily.
“I want to be able to help other people who have had similar experiences to me,” he adds.
“It will be autobiographical, but will be filled with things I’ve learned in my recovery.”
As the car didn’t belong to the person driving at the time of the incident, police were never able to charge him.
For some, the injustice would be almost too much to bear.
ButJames, who is now waiting to have more surgery on his arm and face,takes a vastly different approach and says the crash was one of the “best things” to have happened to him.
“I feel sorry for him, really,” he says.
“I’m not saying that anyone should have to nearly die to feel this way, but honestly, it’s one of the best things that’s happened tome because now I’ve learned the true aspect of life.
“Life is so precious and it’s completely opened my eyes - especially to how we should treat one another.
“I’m not angry towards him anymore, it’s just one of those things you have to get over.
“He was obviously going through a time where he felt it was OK to leave me. I’ve not got hatred for the guy.”
