Motorcyclist survives three days in a ditch after crash

The survival of a motorcyclist who lay seriously injured in a roadside ditch for almost three days after a crash has been hailed a "miracle".

Anthony Margrave spent three nights in the open near Thorne, South Yorkshire, as a major search operation was conducted. The 40-year-old, from Goole, East Yorkshire, is now being treated at Doncaster Royal Infirmary for injuries including broken ribs and hypothermia.

His sister, Sharon Margrave, said he was not yet "out of the woods" but he was fighting to recover.

"For all of us, it has been a week of hell," she said. "I thought he was dead, I really thought that was it." She added: "It's just a miracle that he survived for so long. I'm so proud of him and the way he's fighting now. He's not giving up at all."

Mr Margrave, a concrete operative, was reported missing by his girlfriend, Katie Bridgeford, on Wednesday last week after he failed to turn up for work. He had been planning to go out riding on his bike at 4.30pm the previous day. Police conducted a two-day search of roads, rivers and ditches. He was eventually found at 12.14pm on Friday lying in water 6ft down in a ditch between East Cowick and Thorne at the side of the A614,

Ms Margrave said: "He said he was worried because he could only move his head and his neck. He knew he had his mobile phone and his tobacco in his pocket but he couldn't move his arms to get to them. He remembers having bugs on his face but he couldn't move to get them off.

"The ditch was so deep, he and his bike were totally out of sight. He could hear cars and horses and was shouting for help but nobody came," she said.