Sherrif's bid for TT race after crash

When motorsport-mad Adam Sherrif told his physiotherapists that he wanted to get back on his bike after a car crash that almost severed his right arm, they said he was mad.

But, despite having pins inserted in his bones and suffering from arthritis, the 33-year-old has had great success over the last four seasons and is now attempting to realise his dream of competing in the famous Isle of Man TT race.

It has been a remarkable recovery for the Monk Bretton man since a crash near to his home in 2006 caused major nerve damage.

"I hit the airbag and it pulled my arm off the steering wheel and through the window," said Sherrif. "It then came back into the car and I could see that it was just hanging on by a few pieces of skin.

"It was really strange because it didn't hurt that much."

Adam managed to get out of the car with the help of a passer-by, although he had to remove his shoes to get his feet out, and started to walk home.

"I thought I was fine and I was quite close to my house but after I got about 100 yards down the road I began to feel faint because I had lost a lot of blood," he said.

"I started to go cold and told the passer-by to ring an ambulance. I spent the night in hopsital and had a seven-hour operation on my arm the next day."

Prior to the accident, Sherrif had been a keen motorbike rider but never competed in events. He claims the near-death experience and subsequent time in hospital made him want to get into competitive racing.

"I had to have something to focus on or I would have got stuck in a rut," he said. "I had planned to start racing before the accident then it gave me an incentive to get back on my bike and do it."

Two years later, Sherrif was racing with a specially designed bike with brakes on the left handlebar. "Anyone who knows bikes will look at me and think it is strange that I ride with my brake on the left but that is the only way I can do it. I can't extend my fingers in my right hand so I had to move the brake."

Adam has a 'fixator' on his right arm which is a cage attached to a series of pins that go into his bones. He also suffers from arthritis in his left arm, back and neck which his doctor claims is brought on by overcompensating for his weaker arm.

He has only limited use of his right arm and has become ambidextrous.

In his first race back, he crashed at Brands Hatch and broke his arm again, leaving him with even less movement. But he battled on and has ridden successfully for the last three seasons.

He finished on the podium in all six events at a competition in Scarborough last year and has now teamed up with Barnsley company Motorbikeshopuk, with the hope of securing enough sponsorship to race in the Isle of Man in the future.

He said: "That would be a dream come true. Racing is a way of life for me and my family. My wife Zoe comes with me to every race and my son Kaine helps me with my bike and he is going to have his first race in May.

"We save every spare penny for racing. We don't drink much, we don't smoke, we don't go on holiday. We just think about racing."