A Balham biker who was run over by a 17-tonne lorry and told he may not walk again is back on his feet.

The crash, which happened last October in Streatham Hill, left Robert Williamson with a shattered pelvis, a crushed bowel and dislocated hips.

Mr Williamson collided with a central reservation and was propelled 10-feet in the air before ending up under the wheels of the huge 17-tonne lorry - which ran over him twice.

The Balham resident, who still has two screws in his leg, was rushed to the Major Trauma Unit at St George's Hospital, in Tooting, and has had 20 operations since the accident and needs one more.

He said: "Initially the doctors told me that if I was able to walk again I would definitely have a severe limp.

"If I didn’t have access to the major trauma centre I might not be walking at this point.

"I’m sure most people want to be like me and on the way back to their full health and ability after something like this, and I put this down to the trauma team.

The hospital's major trauma centre, which launched a year ago, has specialist staff and state-of-the-art facilities to care for patients suffering life-threatening injuries, such as stabbings, gunshot wounds and serious road traffic accidents.

Martin Bircher, consultant orthopaedic and trauma surgeon at St George’s, who operated on the father-of-one, said: “When I started treating these sorts of injuries in the late 1980s, the mortality was approaching 50 per cent.

"Through the tremendous team work of everybody from roadside to major trauma unit and beyond, Robert’s life was saved and his long-term disability reduced."