A MOTORCYCLIST involved in a devastating crash while on his way to pick up an engagement ring has successfully proposed from his hospital bed.

Jami Cooper, 27, of Wellesley Road, Clacton, was travelling along the Weeley bypass on his Yamaha motorbike which he was riding for the first time.

But a red car did a U-turn pulling out of a layby in front of him.

Mr Cooper smashed into the side of the vehicle, was flung 40 metres across the road and was unconscious for about ten minutes.

Emergency services including paramedics and firefighters attended the scene and rushed Mr Cooper to hospital.

As a result of the collision, he sustained a broken pelvis, broken arm and two broken ribs and is now recovering in Colchester Hospital.

Clacton and Frinton Gazette:

He said: “When I woke up, I had no memory from the last few weeks – I couldn’t remember being in the accident and I was confused and pained.

“Drivers need to double check before pulling out and they should not make silly and dangerous manoeuvres.

“I still love bikes but I am scared that when I am better, I will be too afraid to go on one again.”

At the time of the accident, Mr Cooper, who works as a security officer at the port of Felixstowe, was on his way to pick up an engagement ring.

He was going to propose to his girlfriend on her birthday in January but decided to pop the question earlier than planned following the crash.

Clacton and Frinton Gazette:

Potentially coming so close to the end of his life changed his outlook.

Astonishingly, his girlfriend also had the same idea and both proposed to each other in the hospital ward.

Mr Cooper said: “I wanted to have the ring with me because I was planning on proposing anyway.

“But the realisation of possibly dying made me not want to waste a single moment of my future with her.

“I may not have been able to get down on one knee but at the same time we proposed to each other we got very emotional.”