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A Premier League footballer has admitted a driving offence that left a cyclist who rode through a red light with no helmet in critical condition.
Southampton striker Charlie Austin’s Bentley collided with Anthony Grey near the clubs stadium last October.
Mr Grey, 37, suffered brain, neck and toe injuries and had a metal plate inserted in his damaged spine so he would be able to recover use of his legs after the crash.
The charity worker said he now suffers memory loss and cannot remember anything about the incident but says he is desperate to meet the millionaire Southampton FC striker to ‘get some closure’.
Austin, 27, collided with the father-of-one after he cycled through a red traffic light just half a mile from the football club ground in Southampton, Hampshire.
The striker, who is paid around £55,000 per week and joined Saints in a £4million move from QPR in January 2016, voluntarily attended an interview with police under caution after the incident and admitted driving without due care and attention.
He now has the option to attend a driver awareness course or go to court.
The cyclist, who was issued with a fixed penalty notice for riding through the traffic light, today said: 'I don’t remember anything until the day after the crash.
'The worst thing is not knowing what happened. I know what the police said happened and nothing more.
'The last thing I remember is leaving work at 4.30pm and the incident was at 5.30pm.
'I remember coming round in the hospital and a police officer giving me my rucksack, which had been cut in half to get it off me.
'The pain was excruciating. I could not move my legs or my upper body at all when I woke up. I had to wear a neck collar and body brace.
'The surgeons have fixed it though and have done an incredible job. Really I should have been left in a wheelchair, but I am not.
'I just want to understand how it all happened. I know where I was going and doing but something went horribly wrong.
'I have always said people should wear safely gear and if they do something wrong while cycling on the road they could be held accountable.
'Police gave me a ticket for running the traffic lights - this may be why I was hit, I don’t know.
‘I don’t blame anyone - both Mr Austin and I were there and it seems we both made a mistake.’
Mr Grey, of Southampton, says he will never be able to ride a bike again after the incident, which has left him still suffering with pain in his knee and elbow.
He said: ‘It has changed my life. It has given me a new outlook on life - I feel like I have been given a second chance - although I don’t know if I deserve it.’
A fixed penalty notice for a cyclist going through a red light results in a £30 fine.
In a statement, Austin said the collision had happened when Mr Grey cycled across his path as he pulled away from traffic lights.
He said: 'I was driving in the city centre of Southampton and had stopped at traffic lights at a junction.
'I moved forward when the lights turned green and it was at that point that a cyclist unexpectedly came across my path and a collision occurred.
‘Following a police investigation of the accident, I provided a statement to the Hampshire Constabulary in early 2017 to give them my version of events.’
A spokesman for Southampton Football Club said contact has been made between the striker and Mr Grey.
Austin, who joined Southampton in January 2016, has scored nine times this season, but has been sidelined until April with a shoulder injury suffered early in December.
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