RYEDALE’s mountain rescue team were kept busy at a cross-country biking event after a 14-year-old, who was leading the race at the time, came off his bike and was left needing hospital treatment.

Tom Dussek, from Nottingham, had been taking part in the Nutcracker Altura XC series at Dalby Forest, a grass roots cross-country racing series and was left with arm and leg injuries. Concerned riders stopped to offer their help before Scarborough and Ryedale Mountain Rescue Team (SRMRT) arrived on the scene.

A spokesman for SRMRT said that Tom was lucky not to have broken any bones but was left shocked by the accident on Sunday, March 23. “He I think he was leading the race at the time and fell off towards the bottom of a challenging section through a wooded area called Worry Gill,” the spokesman said.

The team of ten members, who worked on the rescue for about two hours, said that Yorkshire Air Ambulance was originally called after concerns for his condition but as he improved he was taken to Scarborough Hospital. The spokesman said: “He was checked over and released with no breaks or minor injuries but I gather significant bruising and shaken by the ordeal.”

Tom’s mum Helen said that Tom was now recovering well and she wanted to thank SRMRT for looking after her son so well. She said: “I just think that on all levels they did such a fantastic job. Tom said that he was so well looked after and they didn’t just do their job, they made went beyond that to make sure he was reassured and was comfortable.”