Richard Branson injured in ‘colossal’ cycle crash

Richard Branson showed off the extent of his injuries after he suffered a “colossal” cycle crash.

The entrepreneur, 71, feared he had broken his back or paralysed himself when his brakes on his bike failed during a fundraising event Strive BVI in the British Virgin Islands.

In a recent blog post on his Virgin website, the business magnate said there was no doubt wearing a helmet saved his and his fellow rider Felix Stellmaszek’s lives when they collided.

He called the cycling accident “colossal” in his blog.

“There is no question that wearing helmets saved our lives – not the first time that has been the case,” he wrote.

“I stayed still, hoping I hadn’t broken my back or paralysed myself. Slowly, I moved my limbs and was relieved they responded.”

In a split second Mr Branson faced either dropping off a cliff, hitting a car or clashing into his fellow rider when he come up against a steep corner.

His brakes failed him and while he cried out “brakes not working”, it was too late. The pair “crashed hard” into each other.

Gruesome photographs captured the extent of his injuries after the crash, accompanying the blog post.

He said: “I’ve got some severe cuts and bruises on my elbow, an extraordinarily big bump on my hip and a massive hematoma on my leg. But it could have been so much worse.”

Mr Branson gave his reassurance to everyone as he said his injuries, being treated with cool ice, were starting to go down and his fellow rider Felix has also been recovering well.

In his blog post, he gave a shout out to the medical team who helped him following the accident.

It isn’t Mr Branson’s first brush with a bad cycling accident.

Back in 2016, the star cracked his cheek and tore several ligaments in a cycling accident.

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