Milton Keynes Citizen article - 24 July 2006
A MOUNTAIN biker, who spent three weeks in intensive care with potentially life-threatening injuries following an accident in Aspley Guise Woods, has helped set up a support group for other ex-patients.
Peter Gibb, aged 36, was airlifted to Milton Keynes General Hospital after attempting a jump and landing on his head, causing a brain haemorrhage.
Now, more than three years after the accident, Peter has joined up with other former patients to form a support group called ICUsteps (Intensive Care Unit Support Team for Ex-Patients).
Peter, a website developer, said: "There are psychological issues which follow from being in ICU. After your stay there you are then moved into a general ward and you do not know what the hell is going on.
"The drugs cause hallucinations and post-traumatic stress is often a side effect." The group, which is applying for charitable status, has regular drop-in sessions and its motto is "empathy not sympathy".
They also help relatives whose loved ones have been in intensive care.
Peter can remember nothing of the day of his accident and his last memory is persuading his friend to buy a t-shirt at a Placebo gig at London's Brixton Academy the night before.
"I don't remember anything until waking up in ICU, two weeks later," he said. "Everything you take for granted in your life is gone and you wake up with a part of your life missing. Even though I started getting memories you are not awake again. It was really patchy for four to six months."