Seriously injured cyclist Zeek Badman and family confront careless driver Ethan Nicholls in court

Instead of celebrating her engagement, a sickening crash meant Alice Badman was in ICU – facing the possibility the man she loved might never wake up.

The wife of a cyclist who suffered serious injuries in a sickening crash said seeing him in a coma for weeks was the most painful experience of her life.

Driver, Ethan Shane Nicholls, 22, of Kensington was due to face trial in the District Court this month on one count of causing serious harm by dangerous driving.

However, he entered a guilty plea to aggravated driving without due care on the day the trial was due to start, which was accepted in satisfaction.

Nicholls was driving a silver BMW which seriously injured Zeek Badman, 34, in a crash on Norton Summit Rd, Woodforde on February 11, 2023.

Zeek Badman read a victim impact statement to the court, saying he was out on a 9km bike ride on the day of the incident, with his next memory waking up in Royal Adelaide Hospital nearly four weeks later.

Victim Zeek Badman and his wife, Alice, leaving the District Court after reading victim impact statements. Picture: Russell Millard Photography

Mr Badman suffered life threatening injuries, including a severe traumatic brain injury, collapsed lungs and several broken bones.

“During that time they (his family) were unsure if I would survive,” he said.

Mr Badman’s wife Alice told the court her husband had proposed to her 10 days before the accident.

She said instead of celebrating their engagement with friends and family she found herself in the Intensive Care Unit watching medical staff trying to save her fiancé’s life.

“This accident has irrevocably changed our lives … my world came crashing down,” Mrs Badman said.

“Seeing the person you love most, lying in a coma, connected to machines … was the most painful experience of my life.”

Mrs Badman said she had to face the possibility that the man she loved would never wake up while he fought for his life for four weeks.

“The grief was indescribable … the weight of that uncertainty was unbearable,” she said.

Mr Badman’s mother, brother and sister also spoke of the “living nightmare” they went through and the trauma they still suffer two and a half years on.

On the day of the crash, Nicholls was travelling uphill in his BMW while Mr Badman was travelling downhill on his bike.
David Edwardson KC, for Nicholls, told the court that while his client had no knowledge of being on the incorrect side of the road he accepted he must have partially been at the time of the collision.

Ethan Nicholls leaves court after pleading guilty to aggravated driving without due care. Picture: Russell Millard

Victim Zeek Badman leaves court. Picture: Russell Millard

Mr Edwardson said the tragic accident happened in a split second after a “momentary loss of control” on a road Nicholls wasn’t familiar with.

“It certainly is somewhat alarming how severe the left hand bend is and how one has to have absolute concentration and control,” he said.

“He (Nicholls) obviously is mortified and shattered by the consequences of what has happened.”

Mr Edwardson KC, said Nicholls was in his final year of a mechanical engineering degree and submitted a fine and licence disqualification was the appropriate penalty for the offending.

Judge Paul Muscat will sentence Nicholls later this month.

Originally published as Seriously injured cyclist Zeek Badman and family confront careless driver Ethan Nicholls in court