IN just a few seconds, James Pile's life was changed forever.

Once thinking about a career as a bike mechanic and enjoying nights out with his friends as a carefree teenager, the 18-year-old is now facing life in a wheelchair.

He may never walk again and "the love of his life", his Honda CBR 400 motorbike, lies in pieces.

James nearly lost his life in the horrific accident at the A338 junction with the B3081 at Fordingbridge on April 29, when he was involved in a head-on collision with a Vauxhall Astra.

He was catapulted over the handlebars of his bike before being thrown into another car and then onto a grass verge.

He was taken to Salisbury District Hospital by air ambulance with a split aorta, collapsed lung, three fractures to his pelvis, head injuries and a ruptured bowel.

He also suffered a broken femur in his left leg, a broken right knee, broken ankle, broken thumb on one hand and a broken wrist on the other, as well as a nick out of his spine.

Emergency surgery on his heart managed to save James's life but he spent a further three weeks in intensive care at Southampton General Hospital before being transferred to Poole Hospital.

Four months later James is still in hospital receiving daily neuro physiotherapy to strengthen his muscles.

He has numerous pins in his legs and faces a further operation on his knee. Surgeons have also talked about changing the muscles from the back of his legs to the front in order to get his legs working again.

He is currently in a wheelchair and, while doctors at Southampton General Hospital said he would never walk again, he now has a 50/50 chance and hopes to return home in the next few weeks.

James had been determined to go to yesterday's court case, but after a sleepless night decided he just could not face it.

"I wanted him (Hill) to see what he had done because he's not going to get any sort of punishment," said mum Niki Wiles.

"James does get extremely angry at times. He gets very depressed about the fact that his mates go out and do normal things.

"He's being taught to do lots of things to lead a normal life. They even had him on a tilted table that goes up and he had to stand - he hasn't stood for months."

Niki said life since the accident had been "an absolute nightmare".

The family is now facing a dilemma over whether to sell their house, in Longfleet Road, Poole, and find somewhere more easily accessible for James, or to pay for adaptations to their existing home.

James's older brother Thomas, 19, also faces an uncertain future.

"He's hoping to go to university," explained Niki.

"He did his year again to try and get some better grades, but the exams were at the time of the accident so it all went pear-shaped.

"It all has a knock-on effect."

Niki said James would eventually return to his job as a print finisher at the family business Finish It, in Poole.

She added: "There's a lot of things he can't do, but there's a lot of things he can. I don't think he thinks too much about the future. He takes every day as it comes and tries to make the best of it. That's all you can do."