Hamilton biker makes slow recovery after horror smash

Apr 1 2010 by Gary Fanning, Hamilton Advertiser

A HAMILTON biker left fighting for his life after a horror smash is making a slow recovery.

Stuart Dalton, of Clydesdale Avenue, Eddlewood, was left in a coma after his Honda motorbike ploughed into a parked Jaguar car in Meikle Earnock Road on Friday, March 19, at 9pm.

Last week the Advertiser revealed how his mum stopped at the accident scene and was horrified to discover that the victim was Stuart.

Now he has regained consciousness and has undergone an operation on his right arm which was broken in three places in the smash near Eddlewood Bowling Club. However, he is still unable to speak or recognise anyone.

Dad William said this week: “Stuart has improved slightly over the weekend.

“He is off the ventilator and sedation and is conscious. Unfortunately, he is not out of the woods at the moment as his brain is still trying to cope with the trauma that it has experienced.

“Stuart is awake but is not recognising anybody or able to speak, which is very distressing for the family as all we want to hear is him say that he is OK. Unfortunately, that looks like being a very long way off.”

He added: “On Saturday, he had been off everything for about four hours and just when we went for a cup of tea, he had a seizure that lasted about a minute so he is on medication to stop further seizures.”

Stuart (22) was on his way to work when the accident occurred. He catapulted over the Jaguar’s bonnet and landed on the ground.

Emergency services raced to the scene and Stuart was taken to Hairmyres Hospital and later moved to Glasgow’s Southern General Hospital.

Mum Elaine, a South Lanarkshire Council carer, was on her way home from work when she came across the accident scene. She didn’t realise Stuart was the victim until someone told her he was lying on the ground.

Last week’s Stuart’s 19-year-old sister Nicola said: “Police said the crash wasn’t caused by speed. It was a freak accident.”

Stuart is well-known in the Eddlewood area and is a former pupil of St Elizabeth’s Primary and Craighead Special Needs School.

He is a shift worker at Sainsbury’s DHL warehouse in East Kilbride. Dad William is an HGV driver there. Stuart was looking forward to giving a cheque to Yorkhill Hospital after he and his dad raised £180 during a charity motorbike event in Glasgow.