On the way home from a 10-day desert adventure to experience the Birdsville races in outback Queensland, disaster struck. In the blink of an eye, two adventure riders would be fighting for life.

Riding a motorcycle in outback Australia is at the best of times, extremely dangerous. The constant threat of wildlife, the harsh dry conditions, the lack of resources and services, and the unsealed roads leave no room for those ill-prepared or those without a solid foundation of off-road riding skills.

It was early September 2019 when a group of mates set off from the Hunter Valley to trek northwest on a roughly 4000 kilometer round trip to Birdsville and back. After an event-free trip riding through the various desert and enjoying the vibrance of the Birdsville races, they were on their way home. It was the last day of their adventure, they were 300kms from Dubbo in central NSW.

At around midday, they were heading through the Marra, which is a remote region North West of Nyngan. Due to the drought at the time it was extremely dusty, with light winds. Jay and Sean were the last two riders in the group followed by the Moto Trekkin ute which was their safety back-up vehicle for the ride.

On a straight section of road, Sean looked in his mirror to see where Jay was when his front wheel mounted the ridge in the center of the road, instantly high-siding him and propelling him up the road. This created a dust cloud that floated slowly down the road towards Jay.

Approximately six seconds later Jay collided with Seans Africa Twin which was still lying in the center of the road, and fortunately missing Sean. Jay has propelled approx 30 meters up the road landing on his left shoulder and side. Both riders laid semi-unconscious from their separate impacts and both sustained significant injuries.

The crew in the Trekkin Truck immediately assessed the situation and urgently called for medical help. The issue was, they were over an hour’s drive away from Nyngan. While Sean had regained consciousness, Jay had not, and could not be moved.

Two ambulances from Nyngan were deployed along with the Toll rescue Helicopter from Orange base hospital. For close to an hour all the crew could do was comfort both riders. After being stabilised roadside, both riders were eventually airlifted from the crash scene and flown directly to the St George Hospital Trauma Unit.

Sean sustained multiple fractured ribs, fractured vertebrae, multiple impact traumas, and was released from the hospital two days later.

Jay sustained multiple injuries including twelve broken ribs, a smashed pelvis, punctured left lung, severe internal bleeding, broken collar bone, broken scapular, and two fractured vertebrae. He had five separate operations to repair his broken bones, but while in hospital contracted pneumonia and suffered a blood clot which complicated his treatment. He was also treated for a severe brain injury resulting in a brain bleed and spent three months in hospital.

Both Sean and Jay say the accident has only strengthened their friendship, love of life, and off-road adventure motorcycles. At the culmination of a NSW Police investigation, the result was that neither rider was to blame for the accident, with Police confirming the road, dust and weather conditions to be a major contributor to the accident.

Both riders are continuing their recovery seven months on and both hope to ride again soon.

Ride safe.