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Driver, 34, who struck a horse in a motorway accident was left so disfigured in hospital that his family only recognized him by the shape of his nose
- Ian Tilston had two cardiac arrests, a major head injury and a punctured lung
- He was in a coma for months and received life support at Salford Royal Hospital.
A motorist who struck a horse in a highway accident was so disfigured that his family recognized him only by the shape of his nose.
Ian Tilston and his car were crushed by a horse, which ran away from a nearby field, while driving to work on the M56.
The 34-year-old man left his home in Hawarden and turned off the motorway at Junction 10 en route to Nantwich on January 10, 2022 when the freak accident occurred.
Ian was rushed to Salford Royal Hospital where he spent months on life support, underwent brain surgery and underwent a host of other procedures, including facial reconstruction.
The Manchester United fan suffered two cardiac arrests, a major head injury and a punctured lung; he too was in a coma for months.
Ian Tilston and his car were crushed by a horse, who escaped from a nearby field, was left so disfigured that his family only recognized him by the shape of his nose
Ian was rushed to Salford Royal Hospital where he spent months on life support, underwent brain surgery and underwent a host of other procedures, including facial reconstruction.
Ian’s brother Adam told the Liverpool Echo: “He was put into an induced coma for a few weeks and when he woke up he was moved to the Walton Centre.”
‘She had several surgeries and they even reconstructed her face. His entire face was crushed in the crash and they had to remove a part of his skull to operate on him.
“He looked like an absolute mess after the accident and we only knew it was him from his nose.”
He has been at the Walton Center for a year. She has had life changing injuries as a result of this. She has lost her vision and can’t walk, so she needs 24-hour care.
‘They are looking to discharge him, but we need a place where he can go. We are trying to transform our mother’s house now. We want him home so we can enjoy some quality of life.
‘We just want to put something in his place for him. Police at the time said it was a freak accident and the fences were in good condition, but the horses had since escaped.
Adam explained that the hospital told him that the hemorrhage in Ian’s brain was the worst they had ever seen.
A year later, her brother can now speak and move his right arm, but still has cognitive issues, having days where he thinks it’s still 2010.
The father-of-one said: ‘I was at work and around 9:30 am my grandfather called me, it was the first time in my life that I heard him cry. I thought the worst and thought that he had died.
‘I went to see my grandparents and we waited for news. Since then, our whole life has changed. At first, we were preparing our lives for the worst.
‘We could only recognize him through his nose. The turning point was when he was in ICU and he gave us the thumbs up.
Three cars and two horses were involved in the accident.
the family are Make money to pay for work at Adam and Ian’s mother’s house so Ian can be released from the Walton Center; they have raised £9,840 so far.