Bike accident at skate park leaves dad in intensive care, as wife calls for people to wear helmets

Paul Marney, a father of two from Sydney’s north, is in intensive care with horrific injuries after falling from a bike going down a skate park ramp. And he wasn’t wearing a helmet.

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THE wife of a man who suffered horrific face and head injuries after falling off his bike at a skate park says a video of the accident should convince people they should always wear a helmet.

Jayne Marney, 44, from Freshwater, said the accident was traumatic for their two young children, aged eight and 12, who were just feet from their dad Paul, who wasn’t wearing a helmet, when it happened.

Doctors at Royal North Shore asked Mrs Marney to seek out any videos of the accident to help them understand his injuries.

Paul Marney, 44, with kids Caleb, 12, and Amy, 8, before his accident.

Within hours of posting an appeal on a northern beaches Facebook page she was sent footage by a fellow Mona Vale Skate Park user, who had captured the harrowing incident.

“I had someone with me when I watched the video — it’s very confronting,” said Mrs Marney, who is separated from her partner.

“Paul is a poster boy for why you should always wear a helmet.

“Our children always wear helmets, I don’t know why he wasn’t — something good has to come out of this,” she said.

“I want people to realise how a helmet can save your life or help prevent serious injuries.”

Paul Marney, as he loses control on the half pipe at Mona Vale Skate Park.

Her appeal follows an international review of bike helmet use last week that found wearing one cut the chances of a head injury by 50 per cent, a serious head injury by 69 per cent and reduced the odds of injuries to the face by 33 per cent.

Mr Marney, 44, and a carpenter from Elanora, has been in intensive care at Royal North Shore since September 18, after attempting to cycle down a steep ramp.

Within seconds he went face first over the handlebars and on to the wooden ramp.

Mrs Marney said he smashed both his cheekbones and eye sockets, seriously damaging an optical nerve.

Paul Marney falls face first onto the ground after losing control of his bike at Mona Vale Skate Park. He wasn't wearing a helmet.

He also suffered a depressed fracture of his skull and fractured his neck.

His forehead was left detached from the bone and this week he underwent seven hours of surgery where he had titanium plates inserted into his face, according to Mrs Marney.

Paul Marney has been in intensive care at Royal North Shore ever since the accident which left him with devastating face and head injuries.

“He has 70 staples in his head and is still weak on his right side,” she said.

“His sight is looking bad in his left eye and they’ve pretty much determined no sight.”

She added that while her former partner was conscious he was agitated and unable to string a sentence together.

Amy Marney, 8, Jack Gardiner, 12, and Caleb Marney, 12, with Jayne Marney.

Dr Robert Day, director of the Emergency Department at RNS, said 600 major trauma patients come through emergency a year, with 20 per cent of those being bike riders. Only a minority have head injuries.

“Our experience would be that patients wearing helmets are much less likely to suffer major head injuries,” said Dr Day.

“A recent paper that was published strongly supports the use of bike helmets.”

Mrs Marney has launched a crowd-funding site to help raise funds for her husband’s recovery.

To donate go to: gofundme.com/2qcwunqg.