Charity shire horse driver in hospital after being crushed by animals

A farmer who is driving two Shire horses 650 miles to raise charity funds in honour of his late brother has been forced to put the challenge on hold after he suffered serious injuries last week.

Mr Alcock passes the Scottish parliament during the charity challenge

Jamie Alcock is travelling to Elgin in a carriage pulled by horses Willam and Millie to raise cash for the Police Care UK charity and the Firefighters Charity.

Mr Alcock, 55, started off from his farm in Gloucestershire on June 5 and was expected to take eight weeks to ride all the way to the north east of Scotland.

But the charity drive has been halted after Jamie suffered serious injuries after being crushed by the huge animals as he unharnessed them during a stopover in Perth last Friday.

Mr Alcock is recovering in hospital

The injured farmer - who has so far raised £36,000 for the two charities - was rushed to a hospital in Dundee for treatment to 11 broken ribs, hairline fractures in four vertebrae, a fractured scapula and a collapsed lung.

A message posted on Jamie’s Instagram page reads: “Unfortunately, something on Friday evening spooked both Willam and Millie as they were being unharnessed and as Jamie put it - ‘wrong place wrong time’.

“He is still in hospital but improving each day [and] what would really put a smile on his face is seeing that donation total rise.

“Let’s all donate just £1 and see what difference that makes – thank you to everyone who has donated so far.”

This week, Mr Alcock managed to post a message from his hospital bed along with pictures of him recovering.

He said: “Something happened with the Heavies on Friday evening - I have no idea what and no memory of it.

“I woke up after about five minutes of unconsciousness and was moved by paramedics to a hospital in Dundee.

“I have eleven cracked ribs, hairline fractures in four of my spinal bones and a hairline fractured scapula.

“One of my lungs has partially collapsed too. I guess I went unconscious first.

“The consultants are relatively happy with me and once we get my lung re-inflated I'll be back on the road again.

“We still plan for arrival in Elgin on August 21.”

The two Shire horses have been relocated to a specialist stud and livery firm in Perth while Jamie recovers from his traumatic accident.

Mr Alcock is raising funds for the Police Care UK charity in memory of his late brother John Alcock who died four years ago after spending 14 years in a coma following a serious road crash.

PC Alcock was a serving officer with Grampian Police when he was on his way to Balmoral on royal protection duties when he was involved in the traffic accident in August 2003.

The severity of PC Alcock’s injuries meant he required round-the-clock care at home by nurses.

After three years at a hospital in Elgin he returned to the family home in Garmouth where his partner Donna gave up work to look after him.

The Police Federation helped fund an extension to the couple’s home to allow John to receive the best of care. The constable, who was stationed at Moray, did not regain consciousness and was buried with full police honours at Garmouth, north of Fochabers, in October 2017.