Seriously injured Caerphilly man lucky to be alive after horrific accident in Malaga

The horrific accident happened on the first day of Haydn Atwood’s holiday with his girlfriend and teenage son.

After landing on May 13, Mr Atwood went to explore with 17-year-old Ashley.

His mother-in-law Susan Gater told the Argus that he was hit when they were trying to cross a busy dual carriageway.

"That was the only way to get back to where they came from, without a two-hour climb up a mountain," she explained.

“Before his son had time to say it was too busy to cross the road, he had already gone and got hit head on

“It was about 10.30pm when we got the call to say he had been hit and we were trying to calm Ashley down. He was on the side of the road, having witnessed it, screaming ‘he’s dead.'"

(Haydn Atwood with family and friends before the accident)

The driver of the car who hit him called the ambulance and Mr Atwood, 39, was rushed to hospital in Malaga and put on life support.

Mr Atwood suffered serious injuries including a split right down his pelvis, a torn aorta, shattered fifth vertebrae, broken ribs, a shattered skull and fractured cheekbone. His right leg is also bolted.

“He’s quite frustrated and had pulled one of the bolts out,” Ms Gater said.

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Now Mr Atwood faces a wait until the neurosurgeon can assess him before he can have the major operation on his pelvis.

The family have set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for the costs to fly Mr Atwood home once the medical staff are satisfied that he is safe to travel.

“We’ve been told that it could cost between £8-12,000 to get him home. But we’ll know the exact amount once the medical report has been finished, which will be after he has had his final operation," said Ms Gater.

“He didn’t have any health insurance out there, but we have managed to sort him an EHIC to cover until June 10. Our GoFundMe page currently has £4,500.”

The family have some fundraisers lined up, including one on Friday and on June 9.

The June 9 one is being organised by Ashley’s sponsors for his bike riding and the hope is that these will also bring the family closer to their goal to help fly Mr Atwood home via air ambulance once he is stable enough.

You can donate to the cause at

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