Corbridge biker with spinal injury raising money for specialist motor trike after his burnt down

A man who suffered a spinal injury and was told he would never ride again 40 years ago is fundraising for a new motor trike after his was engulfed in flames.

David Burdus, who lives in Corbridge with his wife Janet, was gearing up for a ride last week, when his specialist Conquest trike went up in flames. He said: "I set it to warm up and tick over. It was on in neutral, parked up, fans on and everything, which I've done a thousand times.

"I went into the house to get my jacket and helmet, I was probably in the house for about three minutes and then all I heard was my wife screaming. I came back and when I went outside, it was up like a torch, it was unbelievable."

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His wife Janet was in the kitchen at the time of the fire, and David recalled hearing her scream, before he telling her and his mum and dad to get away from the windows and close the curtains.

In 2009, he discovered the Martin Conquest trike, a machine specifically designed for wheelchair users. He said: "This was my dream machine, giving me back the ability to ride again and giving me freedom and independence!"

David suffered a spinal injury in 1983 when he was riding a Honda CX500 at Spennymoor and spent ten months in Hexham General Hospital. He was on his way back from his parents when he hit a roundabout in Spennymoor straight on, and believes the bike catapulted into the air and landed on his back. David was 21 at the time and was managing an off-licence in Jesmond.

He had shattered five vertebrae and severed his spinal cord. The doctors at Hexham General Hospital told him that it was the worst spinal injury they had ever seen, and David was given a life expectancy of 40. He is now 63.

And he recalled the very first thing he saw when he left the hospital for the first time: "The very first thing I saw was the exact same bike I crashed, a Honda CX500."

Before finding the specialist trike, he thought he would never ride again. "It was dreadful not being able to ride. Riding a bike is completely different to driving a car, there's so many different dimensions. There really is nothing else like it."

Since then, David has travelled in a Conquest from Lands End to John O'Groats raising the profile of employing disabled people for the Government's Disability Confident Scheme, calling into Downing Street on the journey. He also rode one to Berlin as a fundraiser for Disability Scotland. He even had Hairy Biker Si King jump in the back to wish him luck before his trip.

David was gutted when his Conquest went up in flames, not knowing if he would ever be able to ride again given the fact they are so rare. "They went out of production in 2013. They were made in this country by a guy called Alan Martin, he made them because his son had a skiing accident and that's how he got started. You could buy them in 2007 as a fully produced piece of kit, and then 2011-ish they were bought out by the Americans, and then shortly after that they went out of production.

"The only time these bikes come up is if someone passes on."

But David has had some brilliant news. "I have found a trike in Spain for sale unbelievably. By the time you take the asking price and add shipping and tax it’s going to cost me double what I'll get even if I get the full payout from the insurance."

David has launched a GoFundMe page in order to raise the £14,000 needed for the new trike. He is also looking to sell a very expensive bottle of whiskey, as well as a personalised, private number plate.

"I have a £625 bottle of Dalmore 21 that I won - it arrived the day after the trike went up. I will also sell the private plate off my trike if anyone is interested. The registration is M33 YEW, great for a Jaguar owner or cat lover!"

He also added that he was very thankful and appreciative to Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service: "15 years of freedom up in smoke in 15 minutes. We called the fire brigade and they were here in five minutes. They came from Hexham and thank god they got here and doused the flames.

"Thank goodness they arrived because next to it was my mobility van with a full tank of petrol, and there was a hire car with a full tank of petrol too. The front end of the mobility van caught on fire so they had to put that out as well. If that tank had gone up, god only knows as that was near the house so, a big, big thank you to the Hexham Watch."

And David knows just how lucky he was: "It was a fireball. At one point I saw the flames and looked into it and thought 'bloody hell, I could've been in that. The thing is, if I had been riding, the petrol would have slipped out as I was driving, but if I had been stopped at traffic lights or anything like that, it would have gone up and I don't know what I would have done.

"I have got an electronic tail hoist that takes a little while to drop down. If the electrics had gone, I would literally have tried to drag myself over the barrier and throw myself into the road."

You can find out more about David's story and donate to his GoFundMe page here.