Biker horrifically injured on M6 blasts dangers of smart motorways

Jack Szwarc has had five screws inserted into his left leg.

The 33-year-old was dragged 300 yards along the M6 when he came off his Harley Davidson at 60mph - because he says there was nowhere safe to escape to when his bike suddenly lost power.

Five screws have been inserted into Jack's leg after his patella was broken into three pieces

Both carriageways of the M6 near junction 18 at Knutsford were closed as an air ambulance landed on April 26 and drivers faced hours of congestion.

“I was lying screaming in pain,”said Jack, 33, speaking from his hospital bed. “It was just one big blur mentally and visually.

“I can remember being in the fast lane when the bike started to lose power.

Jack recovering in hospital

“If these roads still had their hard shoulder these delays would never have been caused and neither would my life altering injuries as there would have been somewhere to have pulled into out of harm’s way.”

Jack faced a split second decision trying to move into the inside lane occupied by two HGVs.

“With my speed constantly declining I had a narrow window to make it across in front of a truck,” he said.

“I had to rapidly review what was going on around me. I made it across the very edge of the road. My front wheel must have slipped off the edge of the tarmac into the dirt causing the bike to buck me."

Jack suffered a shattered kneecap, dislocated shoulder and massive laceration between his thumb and index finger.

"I also had a broken tibia which caused me to loose a lump of flesh from my leg and to have a metal rod inserted into the bone," said Jack. "This injury along with my knee is why I'm having to learn to walk again."

Jack had a large skin graft from his arm to save his leg and fears he could still face amputation

Surgeons have rebuilt his leg after his patella was broken into three pieces.

"It will leave my leg a bit shorter and could cause hip and spine problems," said Jack. "It will be a year before I can walk normally. I will never have the level of mobility I had before ever again.

Jack will never have the level of mobility he had before

" I am not out of the woods yet as I could still lose my leg and an arm."

Tattooist Jack, whose wife Moira lives in LA, was working in Switzerland and returned to his parent's home in Wolverhampton just before the pandemic.

Jack with his Harley Davidson

"I have a job waiting for me in the States," he said. "Smart motorways have caused deaths to go up from 1 per 43 miles to 1 per 17 miles from 2016-2019.

"Instead of spending money to build an additional lane, they have increased the danger. I am one of the very lucky victims of these deathtraps whose existence is nonsensical."

Jack on his Harley Davidson, now faces learning to walk again after suffering horrific injuries

Highways England said: "Smart motorways are designed to keep drivers safe, reduce congestion and improve journey reliability."