A TEENAGER has today told how he feared he would be paralysed after being involved in an accident during a last minute dash to help his sister complete a school project.

A TEENAGER has today told how he feared he would be paralysed after being involved in an accident during a last minute dash to help his sister complete a school project.

Ashley Gosling, 16, is recovering at home after being involved in a collision with a bus outside his home which has left him with a fractured skull.

Ashley was rushed to hospital after the accident at around 10am on Friday and faced a barrage of tests over the weekend as doctors feared he may have damaged his spine.

But the youngster is today back at home in Hawthorne Drive and has told how he had gone out on his bike to buy ingredients for his sister, who had a cooking lesson at school the next day.

"I had been to the supermarket to get some vanilla essence," said Ashley.

"I passed a bus in a bus stop, when I got to my house I wanted to turn right to go into the driveway so I looked over my shoulder and suddenly the bus was there, it was too late to do anything about it."

Ashley's head took the force of the collision - damaging the bus windscreen.

Neighbours then alerted his grandparents, who live in nearby Sorrel Close and an ambulance was called.

A CT scan at the hospital revealed a deeply embedded fracture in Ashley's skull and his progress was monitored with blood tests every four hours.

The Chantry School pupil had been in the middle of taking his GCSE exams and has now missed his final two, including the physics exam that is vital to his plans to become a mechanic.

"I'm frustrated that I can't take the exams, but there is nothing I can do now. I am missing out by being stuck at home.

"I am waiting to find out if the exam board will let me sit the exams later."

This was Ashley's second bike accident in recent months and he has now imposed a ban on himself riding, saying he would prefer to wait until he is old enough to drive.

"I am cross with myself because I think I should have seen what was happening, it could have been avoided if I had seen where the bus was at that moment in time.

"I feel lucky, it could have been worse and I could have been paralysed."

Ashley's mother Wendy Gosling, 39, has praised neighbours who saw the accident for their quick thinking.

"I was at work and was handed a phone, my mum just said 'you'd better get home quick'," she said.

"The neighbours have been brilliant, they looked after my mum."

Amazingly, the bottle of vanilla essence survived the accident and sister Natasha, 12, was able to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies which she has brought home to cheer Ashley up while he recovers.

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