World record-breaking jazz musician left with broken wrist

Violinist, pianist and singer Mike Hatchard was cycling down Harley Shute Road in St Leonards-on-Sea at 5pm when he was in a collision with a Vauxhall Grandland at the junction with Fernside Avenue.

He was knocked into the centre of the road, narrowly missing oncoming traffic.

Mike’s foot was bent at 90 degrees to his leg which was “a bit scary” and he was carried to the side of the road.

The Hastings resident said: “The police told me I was category 3 patient – that means it can take four and a half to eight hours for an ambulance to come.

"I said, you can’t be serious – I’m 68, I can’t move and I’m lying by the side of the road with cars coming by.”

Eventually Mike was taken to hospital where it was found that he had a “particularly bad break” in several places on his ankle and his wrist broken in two places.

He remained there for a week, undergoing an operation on his ankle.

Mike holds the world record for playing the violin upside down (Image: Mike Hatchard) He said: “I had really bright lights on my bike – how he couldn’t have seen me I have no idea.”

With a broken wrist, not being able to play was a “terrible concern” for Mike, who is a full-time musician.

After discovering a piano in the hospital chapel, Mike was relieved to find he could still play with some effort.

He was due to have a concert at the The Harbour Club in Shoreham on Sunday and said ahead of the event that he was “determined to play even if in a cast”.

Mike used to regularly play with the late Herbie Flowers, a bassist from Ditchling best known for the motif he provided for Lou Reed’s Walk on the Wild Side.

The week before the accident, on November 20, Mike was interviewed singing upside down on Radio Sussex -  an activity which he holds the world record for.

Last year he also broke the Guinness World Record for playing a violin upside down, a stunt he performed for Children in Need.

He said: “I’ve been in intense pain. It would be heart-breaking if I couldn’t do the gig – I’ve got to keeping going.

“I had to keep myself pretty fit to do the world record.

"The week before I was singing upside down on the radio – I certainly couldn’t do that now. Suddenly I’ve gone from being pretty fit to a complete mess.”

A spokesman for Sussex Police said the driver of the car was uninjured and asked witnesses to report information online or by calling 101, quoting serial 1020 of 20/11.