Keith Farmer admitted that he seriously considered quitting racing in the aftermath of his horrifying British Superbike accident that left him with bilateral fractures to both lower legs.

The four time British Champion shattered his legs in a qualifying accident at Knockhill when challenging for pole position in the British Superbike race in June, and the early stages of his recovery left him questioning the wisdom of continuing.

“The first couple of weeks was blue murder with the pain,” he recalled.

“When I was on the morphine for the first few days it wasn’t so bad, but they took me off the morphine drip and I went onto normal pain killers and for the next few days I was thinking that that was it. I had had enough.”

Over time the Clogher rider has had a change of heart and he is now trying to put together a deal that would see him return to the track in 2020, but he admits the accident has changed his outlook on life.

“It’s only because of what has happened that I have realised what I have been doing,” he said.

“Racing has been a hobby for me so far. Even though I have four British titles racing has always been a hobby, but it needs to become more than just a hobby.

“I can’t put myself through what I go through.

“Working a job, the training, missing out on seeing the little one grow up, trying to keep everything afloat. The stress of all that is too much now and it needs to become a job for next year, and if that doesn’t happen that then I am happy enough to walk away.

“I have done everything in my power with four British titles, and even this year I think I have done a good job with the little amount of time that I have had on the bike, so I will work on sponsors and try to get into a team for next year and see what happens.”

After a slow start to his season Farmer was improving week on week and was putting together his strongest qualifying performance of the season at Knockhill.

He had set the second fastest time in the qualifying session on board his BMW when disaster struck.

“In hindsight I should have pulled in. I was second on the grid and the conditions were just getting worse, but when you are second and close to P1 you try that little bit harder,” he said.

“I ran an inch too wide and got on the white line and it sent me out over the top. Unfortunately the bike landed on me. If it hadn’t landed on me I wouldn’t be in this position but that’s just racing.

“I have always been one to jump up and run back for the bike, but I knew straight away there was too much pain. The marshals put me on a stretcher and put me on the tyre wall and I was left for seven minutes before I got into an ambulance. I had time to look, and when I looked down and saw the left leg was facing the wrong way, I knew it was not good.

“At that point I didn’t know my right leg was broken as well. I thought it was only my left and I was in agony. It was a rough ride for a bit but once we got back to the medical centre at Knockhill whatever they gave me an injection of it put me in a happy place and I forgot all about it.

“It was not something you would want to go through too often. I have never had a serious injury over the years. I have broken an odd bone but this is as serious as I would ever like it to be.”

When Keith got to hospital the extent of his injuries became clear, and he immediately underwent surgery.

“I broke tib and fib in both legs,” he explained.

“My left left was a compound fracture and the bone came out just above my ankle through the skin. My right leg was broken in several places, tib and fib again. They put titanium rods in from the top of my knees right down to my ankle.

“I broke them on the Saturday. The operation was on Sunday morning, and then I had a second operation to tidy up any little bone fragments that were out of place. They did a skin graft on my left leg where it came out through, and that was the job done. By Tuesday evening they had made me standing up.”

It has been almost ten weeks since his accident and the recovery process has been slow, but Keith is seeing signs of progress as he works his way back towards full fitness.

“I can feel it is getting a wee bit better every three or four days,” he revealed.

“I can do a bit more on it each day and it doesn’t get as swollen as quickly. I’m mainly off the crutches now, but if I’m doing a long walk I need the crutches because it start swelling up and it starts throbbing. It’s all going the right direction and its just about time. Nothing else is going to cure it only time, and getting loads of physio. I did three weeks of cryotherapy in the freeze chamber and it has helped with the swelling.

“The week before last I had my x-rays done and the rods are doing their job. Everything is fine but with the bones they are only starting to knit together. If someone was to see me in the street they wouldn’t know. It’s unbelievable what the surgeons can do now, but it gives a bit of a false impression because as good as it looks, it’s not really great.

“The bones are only starting to heal. It’s annoying because I could probably ride a bike in three or four weeks time, but I have spoken to the team and I had called it pretty early that I did not want to come back this year because there is too much risk for the reward.

“There is no worries about the championship now and what would I gain from coming back apart from risking breaking a leg or even worse, one of the rods.

“ I will give it to this side of Christmas, and hopefully look at getting the rods out just after Christmas. It’s a long road yet to the end of the recovery but we are doing everything in our power and will get some physio booked in over the next few weeks, keep working on it, and get properly fit for next year,” he stated.