A FAMILY in Aldbourne is campaigning to raise awareness of road safety for cyclists after their son was knocked off his bike while travelling in America.

Oliver Arnott, 25, had set out on a 5,500 mile cycling adventure from Vancouver to Panama, passing through the United States, when he was hit by a car while travelling across Route 101, from Forks in Washington, on the third day of the journey.

Oliver, having just qualified as a lawyer, was enjoying his three month qualification leave and had it all to look forward to before he was hit. After being discharged from hospital Oliver will be returning to the UK to work at a branch of the law firm White & Case.

His father, Stephen Arnott, 54, of Lottage Road, said: “I was looking at my GPS on Sunday whilst having lunch, showing someone how fantastic this piece of tech was, following Oliver’s progress, then all of a sudden he stopped.

"It was rather ominous, you could see he was off of the road then you could see him going in the direction he came from at a considerable speed.

"We got a phone call a few hours later saying that he was in hospital. Thank god he was wearing his helmet, his helmet saved his life.

“My wife, Kathy, spoke to one of the witnesses of the accident and she was still crying, very shaken up at what had just happened. She kept on saying ‘poor boy’.”

Oliver spent the first 48 hours after his accident in intensive care in Forks Hospital before being transferred to a hospital in Seattle. His shoulder is broken in four places, he has bruised lungs, a bruised eye and a deep bite in his tongue.

Oliver, who was raised in Alton, Hampshire, attended Radley College in Abingdon before reading law at Bristol University, while his parents moved to Aldbourne four years ago.

Mr Arnott said: “Oliver is very keen to raise awareness of cycling road safety. He is very lucky to be alive, he is back on the mend now and is keeping a stiff upper lip. I looked at the number of accidents involving cyclists in the US and it is very high.

"My brother biked across America when he was younger and he said it was rather unsafe.

"Oliver is still is hospital at the moment and the healthcare in America has been wonderful, luckily he had insurance but unfortunately some things you cannot insure. Because he hit his head we still do not know the long term impact.”

Oliver's blog of his cycling trip can be seen by visiting van2pan.com