Orange’s Michael Bonney marries Linzi in hospital chapel

At the beginning of March, Michael Bonney was thrown from his road bike when taking part in the Eden Valley sportive. He suffered catastrophic injuries and was not expected to live. Expert medical treatment at the scene from doctors taking part in the sportive, and later help from emergency crews and from staff at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, saved Bonney’s life. The 54-year old "lynchpin" of Orange Mountain Bikes since 1994, Bonney suffered a life-altering spinal injury in the crash. On Friday 22nd March Bonney married his partner of 25 years, Linzi Saunders. The couple were married in the chapel at the James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough.

Bonney is currently in the hospital’s spinal injuries high dependency unit.

Mrs Bonney told BikeBiz: "Michael suffered a C3 complete spinal injury, the same as suffered by actor Christopher Reeves when he fell from his horse. Michael is tetraplegic – paralysed from the injury site down. Currently his diaphragm and chest walls are also paralysed which means he is unable to breathe for himself. He is in good spirits and remains very alert and is desperate to get reconnected to the real world and is hoping some technology in place to allow him to start accessing the outside world real soon."