Skateboard crash boy urges skaters to wear helmets

Sid Hudson, 16, said he was "alive and happy" as he recovers from his head injury

A boy who almost died in a fall at a skate park has said he would now urge skaters to wear safety helmets, even if it "doesn't look cool".

Sid Hudson, 16, from Bury St Edmunds, suffered a "catastrophic" head injury in the crash on ramps in the town in July, when he was not wearing a helmet.

He was treated at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge and put in a medically-induced coma but returned home three weeks ago.

Sid said he felt grateful to be alive.

He said it was not natural to wear a helmet in the skateboarding culture because it "messes up your balance" and "it doesn't look cool".

"But now that I have had this injury, I realise that I'd rather not look cool than break my head open again or die even," said the teenager.

Sid was put in a medically-induced coma after the skateboard crash

Sid spent four weeks in hospital following the crash on 11 July.

He said could not fully remember what happened but was trying a new skateboarding trick at the time.

Others have told him a small rock stopped his board and forced him into a ramp.

Sid returned home after a month in hospital

The teenager said it was "horrible" when he woke up from the coma.

"It felt like I had just woken up from a nightmare but I was still in a nightmare," he said.

He said he was struggling to come to terms with how little he could do as he recovered from his injuries but said: "I'm alive and I'm happy.

"I'm loving everything and I just want to spread awareness about this because I never thought a little rock would cause this much injury."

Sid was injured at the skate park in Bury St Edmunds

Sid's mum Kirsty Hudson previously said medics "thought he was going to die as it was such a catastrophic injury".

It has not, however, put her son off the hobby.

"I would love to skateboard again," said Sid.