ONE of the most promising motocross riders in the country is on the road to recovery after a 90mph horror crash.

Thomas Strudwick, 13, collided with two other bikes during the high speed accident, which happened while he was competing.

He escaped any serous head injuries thanks to his crash helmet but badly damaged his right arm and suffered numerous bruises.

He said: "The helmet did its job - it saved my life."

He added: "But none of this has put me off at all. It has just made me want to come back stronger.”

The teenager, from Littlehampton, broke his right forearm arm in two places and dislocated his wrist, which also had a hairline fracture.

Thomas was rushed to King’s College Hospital in London after the accident at Brand’s Hatch in July.

Both his bones have been plated with 12 metal screws and he also has a pin going through his thumb and into his wrist.

The Littlehampton Academy student who is among the top riders for his age in motorsport, is now having specialist hyperbaric oxygen therapy to help speed up his recovery.

This involves going into a chamber into which oxygen is pumped at ten times higher concentration than normal.

The more the pressure is increased, the more oxygen the patient’s body is able to saturate into their system.

The extra oxygen helps the body in areas where healing is slowed down by infection or where blood supply is limited by damage to the tissues.

He has been for therapy at the Sussex Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Centre in Southwick five times, and his mother Caroline, 42, said he has been doing well.

She said: “Each session takes just over an hour and from what we can see things seem to be really progressing.

“He had two big scars and they appear to be healing really nicely. He was obviously battered and bruised after the accident because he was pretty much thrown around the track.”

She added: “Nobody wants to see their son getting hurt but he is a very tough boy and motorbike riding is his passion. It has been since he was seven years old. He is very determined.

“Every safety precaution is taken and the tracks are well regulated and everyone wears a lot of protection. Obviously accidents will happen but everything is done to mitigate them.”

Thomas, whose older brother Mark, 17,and dad Will, 50, are also keen riders, said he was looking forward to competing again and planned to be riding at the beginning of September.