A young Warrnambool rider remains in hospital after he was seriously injured by metal cables stretched across a track in the Mount Clay State Forest.
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Corey Davis, 23, and his friend Warrick Greer, 28, rode into the thick cables at 70km/h on November 18.
Mr Davis suffered a fractured spine, hip and pelvis, as well as a punctured bowel. He is currently in the Royal Melbourne Hospital and is unable to eat, speak or walk.
Mr Greer broke his elbow and collarbone in two places. He rode with those injuries for 45 minutes in order to find phone coverage and call 000.
“We came to a section of the track and I saw the cables. I tried to pull up as quick as I could, but it was too late,” Mr Greer said.
“Corey hit the cables first, then I did. I was lying on the ground going in and out of consciousness when I heard Corey say ‘Waz, I really need your help.’ I looked over and he was on the ground tossing and turning in pain, so I pulled my shit together and got up.”
“I jumped on my bike but was in a lot of pain. I wanted to go fast but I had to slow down because I was going in and out of consciousness,” he said.
“It felt like I was riding for about four hours. I got back to my vehicle and rang 000. They did an amazing job to find us in the middle of the bush.
“They found me first but I told them to go get Corey, he needed more help than I did.”
Mr Davis was airlifted to hospital.
Close friend Susan Wood said Mr Davis purchased a new home just six months ago and didn’t have ambulance cover.
“This accident is something that should never have happened,” she said.
“Warrick has two small children, Corey has a mortgage over his head and they’ve both sustained injuries that mean they can no longer work and now have expensive medical bills to pay. The outlay from the accident is going to be huge.”
Mr Greer said he had lost all movement in his elbow and was in pain everyday.
“But that’s nothing compared to what Corey is going through,” he said.
“He’s had a few surgeries...30 centimeters of his bowel has been taken out, four or five discs have been fused together and he’s still got to deal with his fractured hip and pelvis.”
Mr Greer said he had no idea why the metal cables were strung across the track.
“I’ve ridden down there on my bike and gone four-wheel-driving heaps of times and I’ve never seen anything like that,” he said.
“Sometimes you see a metal gate across the track if it’s closed to cars, but I’ve never seen those cables before and all tracks should have been opened by November 1.
“There were no signs alerting us to them which is obviously why we didn’t see them. I’m angry, this should never have happened and we just want answers.”
A Parks Victoria spokesman said they were aware of the incident.
“We are working with Victoria Police on the investigation and hope the riders are recovering.”
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