Paramedic Daniel Mansbridge bashed during charity ride

An off-duty paramedic taking part in the 1000km Great Cycle Challenge to raise money for sick kids will undergo surgery after he was knocked off his bike and bashed by a bunch of young thugs.

An off-duty paramedic riding his bike to raise money for sick kids said he was knocked off and bashed by a bunch of young thugs.

Daniel Mansbridge, 42, was 7km into his 1000km campaign for the Great Cycle Challenge when he said a teenager jumped in front of him, knocking him off his bike at Windang Bridge, near Shellharbour about 11am on Friday.

“He clipped my shoulder and I ended up going headfirst over the handle bars and landing on my head,” Mr Mansbridge said.

Rattled but not badly injured Mr Mansbridge got to his feet while the young group laughed and began walking back towards them.

Daniel Mansbridge after the incident.

The 42-year-old will undergo surgery for his injuries.

“I just wanted to explain how silly that was of him,” he said.

The young boy had moved behind older teenagers who then came at him, Mr Mansbridge said.

“They came over and started giving me a bit of push and shove and I said ‘hang on a second’.

“They just whaled on me. On the ground and blood was just pouring out of me.”

Mr Mansbridge said once he explained he only wanted to speak to the young man, the group apologised to him.

“The guys who beat me up said they were sorry. One of them got my bike and brought my bike over to me.

“Another got my earphones for me.”

But by that stage the damage was done, Mr Mansbridge could not see out of his swollen left eye where he said he had been punched.

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He sustained an orbital floor fracture in the bottom of his eye socket and rang his local ambulance colleagues who took him to hospital. He spent the night in Wollongong Hospital and is due to undergo surgery in the coming weeks.
Police have launched an investigation into the incident, believed to have involved up to 10 young people.

Mr Mansbridge said he did not necessarily want the teenagers to get into trouble but said they needed to know the damage they had caused.

“The next day my kids wouldn’t come near me,” he said.

“These kids were just kids having fun in a group, this kid was showing off to his mates and it all went south from that.”

Mr Mansbridge said the silver lining to his serious injury was public donations to his campaign had increased — his campaign page had raised $900 while another GoFundMe page set up in his name had also raised $600.

“My donations have gone through the roof … if there is a positive here, the kids will get more money,” he said.

NSW Ambulance District Inspector Terry Morrow said it was tough to hear one of his close colleagues had fallen victim to such a violent assault.

“It was very distressing actually ... to all of a sudden have one of our officers randomly hit on his pushbike, to receive the injuries he’s sustained, we are appalled at the situation,” Mr Morrow said.

“We all at various stages in our career have become involved in assaults which is not good,” he said.

“Daniel is the sort of character that’s got the same attitude as everyone in our service, we are out there to help people not harm people.”

The Great Cycle Challenge raises money for children to help fund treatment for children diagnosed with cancer.

Originally published as Paramedic Daniel Mansbridge bashed during charity ride