A CYCLIST has bounced back to health after being critically injured in an accident.

Chris Sole was riding home after visiting friends when he was involved in a collision with a car.

The 42-year-old suffered multiple life-threatening injuries in the accident in Blackridge Lane, Horsham.

He was treated at the scene by air ambulance doctor Magnus Nelson and critical care paramedic David Wright.

Mr Sole, from Horsham, was placed in an induced coma before being airlifted to St George’s Hospital in London for specialist treatment.

He went on to make a full recovery from the accident, which happened in 2011.

He has now become a volunteer for the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance.

He recently visited the air ambulance base in Redhill to hand over a cheque for £2,500 to the charity.

The money came from the compensation Mr Sole received as a result of the accident.

It is enough to cover one of the helicopter’s flights.

During his visit Mr Sole was also reunited with the team that helped him.

He said: “Each mission costs in the region of £2,500.

“I wanted to donate this amount as my way of saying thank you to them for saving my life.”

It was the first time Mr Sole had seen Dr Nelson since his accident although he had met Mr Wright on a previous occasion.

Dr Nelson said: “It was great to see Chris after such a long time.

“It’s incredibly touching that he wants to donate this fantastic amount of money.

“It was an absolute pleasure to meet him and we are very grateful not only for this donation, but for all that Chris does as a volunteer.”

The air ambulance is a charity which provides a helicopter emergency medical service for patients across the three counties.

They are called out to deal with people who have suffered trauma or have a serious medical emergency.

It costs more than £6.5 million each year to continue the charity’s vital work.

This means it relies almost entirely on donations and fundraising to achieve this.

When necessary, its medical crews can provide highly specialist care at the scene.

They are able to anaesthetise, perform surgery and give blood transfusions to patients.

Following treatment, they can airlift patients directly to the hospital that can best care for them.

About half of the patients the helicopter teams treat are taken to regional major trauma centres.

This ensures patients can get the care they urgently need without any delays or disruption.