Mum makes Christmas helmet plea after bike crash left son, 5, in nine-day coma

A mum whose five-year-old boy spent nine days in a coma after a bike crash has urged parents to get their kids a helmet this Christmas. Marli Barnes suffered two skull fractures and a broken shoulder in the terrifying incident, which left him fighting for his life in hospital.

The little lad had been playing yards from his home in Sowerby Bridge, West Yorks., when he jumped on a friend’s 'rust bucket' bike and rode down a steep hill. But as the bicycle had no brakes he then ploughed into a 4ft high garden wall

His horrified mum Nikki, 28, found her unconscious son receiving CPR from neighbours minutes later - prior to an air ambulance arriving on the scene. Doctors later told her and Marli’s dad, Dean Collinson, 32, to 'prepare for the worst' as they feared he might not wake up from his induced coma.

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Remarkably, Marli re-gained consciousness just over a week later, and while he's since recovered, concerns remain about his long-term development. And Nikki is now urging parents who buy their kids bikes this Christmas to make sure that they get them a helmet as well.

She said: “They might not look good, it’s not a cool thing to be wearing, but they do and will save your child’s life. Marli got lucky, another child might not get as lucky. They could sustain more injuries than him.

“As a mum, having to watch my five-year-old son get CPR at the scene and knowing he wasn’t breathing, it’s been traumatic. You do picture it when you’re trying to sleep. It’s not something anyone would