I'd been for a walk in lovely Staffordshire (Stoke's better looking sister) and was minutes from home when I was hit by a car.

Essentially looking for your near death experiences. Personally I nearly die much more often than I nearly live - but this was a new low; my left leg is completely black, and my right foot is broken and crushed but aside from that - cuts and bruises.

It's odd to walk into a room on crutches with great difficulty, and for everyone to tell you how lucky you are. Hah, but essentially it's true - as I was hit, I happened to be scratching one hand with the other, so my arms were raised and slammed into the bonnet rather than my head. Without the itch I'd be a vegatable or worse.

I'd hate to turn into one of those 'new lease of life' people, but life does seem so delicate when you crawl away from something like that. I've said things to people that, in the past, have gone unsaid.