A TT rider who suffered life-changing injuries in a devastating practice week crash has spoken publicly for the first time about the collision.

Steve Mercer’s account appears in a new book by Stuart Barker entitled ‘Win, Lose or Die’, which examines the lethal sport of motorcycle road racing.

Mercer was among a group of red-flagged TT riders who were given permission to travel back to the Grandstand the ‘wrong way’ around the course during TT 2018.

At Ballacrye, near Ballaugh, his machine collided head-on with a course car travelling at high speed on its way to the accident that claimed the life of Manx TT star Dan Kneen.

In a prologue to the new book, he recalls the moment of impact.

He said: ‘We were just cruising back, doing about 25-30mph and, as I got to Ballacrye, I saw this car coming round the corner towards us, and it was broadside - it was absolutely on the pipe.

‘In the time it took to blink, I saw the car’s bumper right in front of my face. I tried to jump off the bike, but as I did so, the bike’s handlebar caught my leg and almost tore it off. I flew over the handlebars and hit the screen of the car, then flew off into a field and completely wiped out the scaffolding for the TV camera.’

He recalled lying on his back, looking up at the sky and knowing he was badly injured.

One of the other returning riders, Daley Mathison, jumped over a stile and held Mercer’s leg as blood pumped from it.

‘My right femur had exploded, and my leg was only being held on by a thin strip of skin. The femoral artery had been ruptured too, and I had punctured my lung, so I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t speak either because I had paralysed my vocal cords. Eventually, I passed out,’ he said.

Tragically, Mathison died the following year when he crashed at Snugborough in the opening race of TT 2019.

Another rider among the group instructed to return ‘wrong way’ with Mercer died in a four-bike crash at the Southern 100 a month after the incident at Ballacrye.

Chapter eight of motorcycling journalist Stuart Barker’s new book focuses on Mercer’s recovery from devastating injuries including damage to his spine, broken ribs, a punctured lung, multiple fractures and bruising to the brainstem, causing temporary paralysis from the neck down.

His determination to recover was driven by a passion to race again.

He admitted: ‘I fought right from the start but I was really deluded. I thought I could be riding by Christmas.’

In fact, his recovery has taken years and he still faces daily struggles because of spinal damage and severe back pain.

As Media IoM reported in 2024, Mercer settled his damages claim against the TT race organisers out of court for an undisclosed sum after the ACU admitted liability.

He bought a Honda Fireblade and, although he accepts he will never race again, plans to ride it at a track day at Brands Hatch.

On his Facebook page, he says he is planning to write his own book about his recovery journey.

* ‘Win, Lose or Die’ by Stuart Barker is published by Blink Publishing with a recommended retail price of £22.