A grandmother suffered catastrophic injuries when a driving instructor struck her bicycle from behind at 55mph.
Rebecca Tanton says Jon Dick has never apologised for the collision in Lincolnshire two years ago, maintaining throughout that he had done nothing wrong.
In November, however, Dick was convicted of causing serious injury by careless driving. He received a suspended prison sentence and a two-year driving ban, ending his work as a driving instructor.
Ms Tanton, who is in her late 50s, says she will ‘never recover’ from the devastating injuries. She needed seven metal plates inserted into her bones and later developed sepsis.
In a further tragedy, her 33-year-old son died from brain cancer shortly after she came out of one of six operations. Still in hospital, she had to organise his funeral from her bed.
She told the Daily Mail: ‘My helmet saved my life, there is absolutely no doubt about that.
‘But my life is changed completely. I am simply existing in constant pain, while Jon Dick is still walking around freely – and he has shown no remorse whatsoever.’
Before the crash, Ms Tanton, a mother of three, lived an exceptionally active life. She regularly rode horses and swam, and cycled 40 miles every day.
Rebecca Tanton was thrown from her pedal bike on Manby Road in Lincolnshire after Jon Dick hit her at 55mph.
She struck the tarmac, breaking numerous bones on the right side of her body and suffering injuries from which she says she will ‘never recover’.
Dick was driving his Ford Puma clearly marked as an instruction car, and according to Ms Tanton has never apologised for the crash
One of these daily rides, at just 4pm on October 7, 2024, saw her sharing Manby Road towards Louth with Dick, in his mid 50s.
Dashcam footage shows him driving alone in his Ford Puma, marked as a training vehicle, out of Manby with the radio playing, and accelerating up a hill just as Ms Tanton comes into view.
Despite wearing his glasses, Dick fails to spot Ms Tanton and ploughs into her from behind, shouting ‘f****** a***holes’ as he realises.
Rear-view footage shows her being thrown into the air before sickeningly clattering onto the tarmac, forcing the next car to swerve in order to avoid running her over.
Ms Tanton says: ‘I remember very little of the aftermath, but I heard someone say I wouldn’t make it if they put me in the air ambulance.
‘The paramedics wanted to take me to Hull, but realised I would have to go to Grimsby first by road to be stabilised. I needed an emergency blood transfusion because I was losing so much.’
Her pelvis was smashed to pieces, and bones were broken along the entire right side of her body.
A hole in her face down to the bone over a fractured eye socket was hemorrhaging so much blood that it had to be treated with plastic surgery that evening.
Rebecca Tanton was a keen horserider, swimmer and cyclist before the accident completely changed her life
Dick was a driving instructor in Lincolnshire before he was banned from getting behind the wheel for two years after the guilty verdict
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Josh Tanton, Rebecca’s youngest son, died from a rare brain tumour just as she was coming out of a major surgery
Long weeks in ICU followed, during which five plates were screwed into Ms Tanton’s pelvis: one into her hip, and one into her shoulder.
She said: ‘From the moment Jon Dick carelessly drove his car into me, he took away my freedom, independence and love of life.’
In March last year, just as the wounds were beginning to heal, Ms Tanton was struck down with sepsis – meaning infection had taken hold around the plates screwed to her bones.
Everything had to be opened back up, the infection washed out, an abscess cut away, and her wounds filled with antibiotic beads.
During this operation, however, her bladder was accidentally torn – saddling her with a catheter for three months.
When it seemed things could get no more difficult, Ms Tanton awoke from a surgery to the worst news imaginable: her 33-year-old son had died suddenly from a rare brain tumour.
Josh was a marine pilot out of Gravesend, meaning he used his expert knowledge to guide large commercial ships along the River Thames.
Dick stopped his car after realising he had hit the bike and remained on the scene as emergency services rushed to help Ms Tanton
Ms Tanton has been unable to return to the saddle of her bike, which she described as ‘her life’
Ms Tanton said: ‘The funeral of my beloved son had to be postponed until I was in a stable condition to attend.
‘Which I did with a catheter, and barely able to walk, because of the injuries caused in this collision.’
Meanwhile, the sepsis was cleared, but doctors found that infection was clinging to the plates – which couldn’t be removed, because the bones had not properly fused.
That means Ms Tanton is now living with a ‘ticking timebomb’ with the threat of sepsis returning. If that happens, doctors have said she has just a one-in-three chance of survival.
Dick was charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and first appeared at Boston Magistrates’ Court in July 2025, but he was allowed at the time to continue driving.
He was sentenced in December 2025 to 26 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months, and disqualified from driving for 24 months.
In her victim impact statement, read out in court, Ms Tanton said: ‘The impact this has had on my elderly father, my eldest son and family, also my daughter, nearly seeing me die praying every time I am hospitalised, is unquantifiable. It’s all a living nightmare for all of us.’
Jason, her eldest son, told the court: ‘This incident has changed all of our lives completely. It’s hard to describe the fear, sadness and stress we’ve all gone through.
‘Every time I see my mum struggle, I’m reminded how close we came to losing her. I’m so proud of her strength and determination, but I also wish none of this had ever happened.’
Dick was approached by the Daily Mail for comment.