Mountain biker Gavin Dickson chose the worst possible place to land after he was thrown over his handlebars in a crash – on top of a STERKLEBRAID with 30,000 needle-sharp spikes!
Lodge owner Gavin, 58, was on a 20-mile training run as dusk fell and was hurtling along at 25 mph when Africa’s largest rodent suddenly ran right in front of his wheels.
Unable to avoid the bushy 25kg beast, his bike slammed into it hard and the porcupine and Gavin became entangled as his bike tumbled down the dusty South African dirt road.
When he stood up he realized he was laced with quills and was like a human pincushion with 20 or so quills hanging from his legs and feet and his tires were as flat as pancakes.
The porcupine he’d hit was dazed, but worse was coming – his angry mate stared straight at him from the undergrowth and shook his quills furiously and ran at him.
Lodge owner Gavin, 58, shows the porcupine quills embedded in his foot after he fell off his bike during a 20-mile training ride in South Africa
There were about 20 spikes sticking out of his legs and feet and his tires were as flat as pancakes
Gavin said, “I was on the ground and all I could do was keep my head down to let my helmet absorb the impact, but luckily the spines were pointing back and not at me.
Porcupines normally attack sideways or backwards so the quills can deal maximum damage to a predator or anyone posing a threat to it, but this one ran right at me.
“It gave the porcupine I just crashed a chance to get up and escape and then the pair disappeared into the bush leaving me to look down at all those quills sticking into me.
“It was almost dark and there were so many pins in my mountain bike tires that I couldn’t possibly fix all the punctures and I tried to call for help but couldn’t get a phone signal.
“I started plucking the spines out of my legs and feet one by one and was lucky that most of them weren’t very deeply embedded, but there were two in my ankle that were very deep and very painful.”
“This is a remote area and hardly any cars pass here after dark so I knew I was in trouble as the South African bush is nowhere to spend the night alone and I was in a pickle” , he said.
The porcupine he hit was dazed, but worse was coming – his angry mate stared straight at him from the undergrowth and furiously shook his quills and ran at him (photo file)
The punctured rear wheel with six pins sticking out. A friend of his came to Gavin in his station wagon and returned his bike to safety
Then Gavin, who runs the Hluhluwe River Lodge on the Elephant Coast in KwaZulu-Natal, had his first stroke of luck of the night: two cars with a plastic surgeon and three doctors came out of nowhere!
Gavin said, “I couldn’t believe it and the plastic surgeon brought a full emergency kit including local anesthesia and put on his headlamp and started removing the two deep spines.”
“The spines hurt like hell so I was thankful for the pain relief and one of the doctors was able to call a friend of mine to come out in his station wagon and get me and my bike back to safety,” he said.
Plastic surgeon Dr Ehren Eksteen, 45, was in his car with his GP wife Hendi, 43, and two other medical specialists were in the next car, so Gavin couldn’t have been in better hands.
Dr. Eksteen and his three colleagues enjoy studying South African wildlife and were looking for frogs and snakes in the local national parks when they spotted Gavin in their headlights.
Unable to avoid the bushy 25kg beast, his bike slammed into it hard and the porcupine and Gavin became entangled as his bike tumbled down the dusty South African dirt road
Gavin said: ‘I couldn’t believe it and the plastic surgeon brought a full emergency kit including local anesthesia and put on his headlamp and started removing the two deep spines’
Gavin said the spines “hurt a hell of a lot” and he was thankful for the pain relief
Plastic surgeon Dr Ehren Eksteen (pictured), 45, was in his car with his GP wife Hendi, 43, and two other medical specialists in the next car, so Gavin couldn’t have been in better hands
Married father-of-two Gavin from Hluhluwe said, “My tires and handlebars tell the story of my bike, and the picture of the spikes in my ankle and bike shoe tell the story of me and the porcupine!”
Gavid added, “It was almost dark and there were so many pins in my mountain bike tires it was impossible for me to fix all the punctures and I tried to call for help but got no phone signal”
Dr. Eksteen from Pretoria said: ‘Gavin had picked out most of the porcupine quills himself, but there were two very deep quills left, both about 5cm deep, so I had to have minor surgery to get them.
“I always carry my medical kit with me for emergencies and it has come in very handy in the past, but this is the first time I’ve had to use it to solve an accident between a cyclist and a porcupine!”
“There’s almost no traffic on that road at night because people stay indoors after dark, so Gavin was very lucky that we came by,” he said.
Married father-of-two Gavin van Hluhluwe said, ‘My tires and handlebars tell the story of my bike and the picture of the spikes in my ankle and bike shoe tell the story of me and the porcupine!
“Lions and leopards often attack them, but they almost always come off worse, and thorns sticking into their mouths can stop them eating and starve to death or become infected and die of sepsis.”
“I went home for a cold beer and went to the doctor in the morning who gave me a tetanus shot and some antibiotics and within a week I was back on my bike, but now wary of porcupines,” he said.
The Cape porcupine can weigh up to 28 kg and run at a speed of 10 km/h. It is Africa’s largest rodent and is covered in an incredible carapace of 30,000 spines that can grow up to 45 cm long.
Gavin said, “I was driving past the scene the next day and stopped out of curiosity and got out and there were over 100 quills on the track. I picked them and have them in a jar at home as a reminder!’
Porcupines are mostly nocturnal and when they pair they stay together for life and are aggressively territorial. When they are hungry, they eat bark, berries, roots, grasses, seeds and leaves.