Bundaberg dad Chris Travis speaks on horror Logan Reserve bike crash injuries

A young father of four has described how even a blanket on his legs leaves him in excruciating pain after a horror motorcycle crash which almost totally severed his spine.

Chris Travis now faces years of rehabilitation following a horrific motorcycle crash which left him with serious injuries to his spine.

A young dad man has spoken on his painstaking recovery after a serious motorcycle accident left him with multiple spinal injuries and financial challenges.

Christopher Travis was riding his motorcycle just 2km from his Logan Reserve home, well below the speed limit, when the worst happened on November 18.

The motorbikes engine completely died, cutting his back brakes and leaving him travelling at 75 km/hr into a corner he had never before taken faster than 50km/hr.

“I remember getting to the top of the hill and my whole bike lost power, the front brakes worked but it was too dangerous to use them going at that speed,” Mr Travis said.

“I just remember seeing a green patch of grass in the empty paddock ahead of me and trying to aim for that.”

The Bundaberg father of four recalls little from after the accident.

He woke up three days later in hospital with an almost totally severed spine, ligament and tendon damage and no movement in his feet and legs.

In the following surgeries doctors attempted to repair his spine with two rods, nine bolts, and fused multiple sections of his spine between his T4 and T5 vertebrae and his T10 and T11 vertebrae.

His T12 vertebra imploded as a result of the accident and doctors were left with no choice but to entirely rebuild it after first removing it from his body.

An X-ray reveals the metal rods now running down Chris Travis’s back.

Through rehabilitation Mr Travis has been able to regain some feeling in the front of his upper legs.

He now faced a years-long journey ahead, with his injuries leaving him in constant pain from even the slightest touch on his legs.

“I get hyposensitivity on my right shin, and if you touch it, it hurts, it doesn’t matter how lightly, the lighter you touch it the worst it hurts, so if you put a blanket on my legs I am in excruciating pain,” Mr Travis said.

“It’s a very weird pain to explain, feels like your feet are forever imploding, like they are caught in a vice, it hurts, it hurts a lot.”

The accident hit the self-employed concreter at a tough time; he was transitioning his business into lawn mowing and property maintenance after months of investment drained the family’s savings.

Mr Travis said the business was on the verge of taking off when the accident happened, leaving his family with no income.

He said in previous years he had opened a solid insurance bundle for his family to fall back on if the worst ever happened.

However, when Mr Travis tried to claim that insurance, he discovered the insurance policy he had been paying a premium on was cancelled, all because he had not logged into his account in the past 12 months.

He attempted to access his Super in the hope of filling the void left by the cancelled insurance, but was hit multiple roadblocks with the tax office who claiming he is not entitled to do so due to the fact he was being cared for in a public hospital.

Photos post surgery show the long slice running down Chris’s spine following his surgery.

He said he now faced a bleak situation, unable to work for the next three to four years and leaving his family without financial support after years as the breadwinner.

Mr Travis’ mother Lexi Pike launched a Go Fund Me in the hopes of supporting her son through this period.

“Chris Travis is not one to ask for help but with no other options we have no other choice,” she said in the fundraiser.

“He has had no income coming in since the accident and has always worked hard to provide for his family. With Christmas around the corner and trying to make ends meet, we need your help and are doing anything we can to help this family anyway we can.”

The fundraiser has a $10,000 target, with $1400 raised so far.

Originally published as Bundaberg dad Chris Travis speaks on horror Logan Reserve bike crash injuries