The family of a Penparcau cyclist who suffered serious injuries has spoken out for the first time.

Ex-marine Sean Button endured a cardiac arrest after colliding with a 4x4 whilst mountain biking with his dog in July 2023.

He was airlifted to Royal Stoke University Hospital with multiple head and spinal injuries.

Eighteen months later, Sean, now 30, hasn’t been able to return to work as a yardman and suffers from daily pain.

His mum Wendy Button, a Bronglais critical care nurse, said: “I was stunned and absolutely distraught.

“The psychological and financial impact has been huge.

“The whole family is still living from the trauma of it.

“Sean is self-conscious of his injuries, his speech has changed and he suffers from panic attacks.

“What’s happened is awful and it eats away at you, but Stoke saved our son and allowed us to bring him home.

“Other families haven’t been as lucky.

“It makes you aware of how precious life is.”

Sean was a fit 28-year-old who loved biking in the hills - his dog Cadi running off-lead alongside him.

He was cycling on a Penrhyncoch B-road at 7pm on 7 July when a Mercedes G-Class came around a bend.

Police reconstruction suggests neither person was going at speed, but that visibility was low due to high roadside hedges.

Wendy thinks Sean went over the vehicle, breaking its windscreen before being flung into a ditch, the driver pulling over further down the road at a junction.

Passing drivers Geraint Rowlands and Sam Mahon on seeing the car with the damaged screen, found Sean trying to crawl out of the ditch and called for an ambulance, staying with him until it arrived.

Sean suffered from a cardiac arrest after the flight to Stoke and was induced into a coma.

Sean had collapsed lungs, fractured ribs and vertebrae and a jaw the surgeon described as a “mushed bag of crisps”.

The former Penglais School pupil went through 10.5 hours of surgery for his jaw and spinal compression, after which he slowly learned how to walk again and eat solid foods.

As for the dog, police reported seeing her at the scene but ran off.

Walkers found Cadi in the early hours of the following morning, scared and with a small leg injury.

That summer community members raised £10,000 to support the family to stay with Sean during his four weeks in hospital, with Wendy taking time off work to care for Sean alongside her mother who was dying of cancer at the time.

In April 2024, Aberystwyth Magistrates Court found the driver not guilty of drink driving and leaving the scene of the crash.

Sean declined to speak but hasn’t returned to cycling since.

Wendy, 54, said: “Sean’s helmet saved his life, no shadow of a doubt.

“[The accident] has made me a more conscious driver - anyone can be in a situation where an accident happens.

“It makes me angry when people say they can’t share roads with cyclists.

“Sean was out enjoying himself and in the blink of an eye our lives changed forever.

“Regardless of what people think you have to give way, it’s in the highway code.

“Even if you’ve got to get somewhere and want to pass, don’t take that chance.”

The family want to extend their gratitude to Geraint Rowlands and Sam Mahon, the police, paramedics, air ambulance and critical care staff who took care of Sean.