\n William Radford, 27, claims the back wheel of his rented e-bike unexpectedly skidded out as he braked for pedestrians while out shopping.\n<\/p>\n
\n The heavy bike frame – four times a standard bike’s weight at 35kg – fell and \u2018shattered\u2019 his right leg as he crashed to the ground.\n<\/p>\n
\n Council manager William’s leg was broken in four places, in what sounded like a \u201cgunshot\u201d, during the crash in Garrett Lane, Earlsfield.\n<\/p>\n
\n William spent four months learning how to walk again. (Image: SWNS)\n<\/p>\n
\n Doctors at St George\u2019s Hospital allegedly told him his injuries could have been fatal, as the breaks were near the femoral artery.\n<\/p>\n
\n He underwent a four-hour op, where a steel rod and pins were placed inside his leg, and spent a week in hospital recovering.\n<\/p>\n
\n The seasoned cyclist is taking legal action against the company after contacting accident specialists injurylawyers4u.co.uk.\n<\/p>\n
\n William, from south-west London, said: \u201cIt was like in slow motion. The sound, snap and then the pain. It was so bad I would score it 100 out of 100.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt was the most painful thing ever. If someone had walked past and offered to end it all there and then I would have said ‘yes’. The pain was indescribable. I couldn\u2019t wish it on anyone.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n William used Lime bikes regularly. (Image: SWNS)\n<\/p>\n
\n William spent the next four months learning how to walk again using crutches and had to take a month off work due to the injuries.\n<\/p>\n
\n Now, after a year of physio, the Chelsea football club season ticket holder still suffers from a limp and is unable to kick a football, go for a run, or cycle with friends.\n<\/p>\n
\n He added: \u201cIt was like learning to walk for the first time as a toddler, but worse, as I was in complete agony with every movement.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t do anything except sit on the sofa. My girlfriend had to do all the chores and help me around the flat.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cMy leg is never going to be the same. It has really shrunk my world with what I can longer do with my friends.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt’s going to hurt in the cold and winter and my limp will come and go and I am told it will likely cause me big issues when I am older.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Williams case is one of at least 12 being brought by Lime riders. (Image: SWNS)\n<\/p>\n
\n William used Lime bikes regularly to socialise, shop and for days out with friends, clocking up over 140km – and over 70 rides on the app -in the six months prior to the incident.\n<\/p>\n
\n He claims Lime only offered him a refund for the bike as compensation following the accident in September last year.\n<\/p>\n
\n William said: \u201cIt\u2019s only a matter of time before someone with a similar injury dies if they bleed out from their femoral artery.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cLime have robbed me of a year of my life. I now have metal in my leg for life holding it together.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThey should take responsibility as I feel it\u2019s the design with the heavy frame that is causing serious injuries like mine.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cAll they did after I told them was give me a refund instead of speaking with me. It\u2019s like a kick in the teeth, as they knew it was serious as I sent them my x rays. But they didn’t care.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Williams case is one of at least 12 being brought by Lime riders who say they were seriously injured on the firm\u2019s e-bikes in London.\n<\/p>\n
\n Royal London Hospital has seen 150 cases of incidents involving the bikes. (Image: SWNS)\n<\/p>\n
\n It has been reported that over the past six months, Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, has seen 150 cases of incidents involving the bikes.\n<\/p>\n
\n E-bike specialist lawyer Michael Hardacre – who has sent a letter of claim outlining his case to the company on behalf of William – says the accident is part of a worrying trend.\n<\/p>\n
\n He added: \u201cLime have a duty of care to their riders to make sure the bikes are safe when hired out and fit for purpose.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cSerious injuries like William\u2019s can no longer be ignored or seen as the price of doing business in our town and cities.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n A Lime spokesperson said: “We are actively engaging with the solicitors involved. We are unable to comment any further as this is an ongoing claims process.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"William Radford, 27, claims the back wheel of his rented e-bike unexpectedly skidded out as he braked for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631365,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,393,4884,257,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-631364","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-london","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115716375625929807","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}