Martin Barrass: crash survivor, fundraising cricketer and now King of Hull

The York Theatre Royal pantomime favourite will play Malcolm King in The Kings Of Hull at the newly refurbished Hull New Theatre from September 27 to October 7 as Martin's miraculous recovery from his September 10 crash reaches a new peak. He had "died" twice that day.

"I had a one per cent chance of survival," reveals Martin in the Theatre Royal foyer on Tuesday. That statistic came as a revelation to him too. "The accident was last September, but I was only told about my survival chances in May this year when I visited the Yorkshire Air Ambulance headquarters to show my thanks for what they did that day when they airlifted me to the Leeds General Infirmary intensive care unit."

Martin had been travelling home to York from Keswick on his motorbike when it was in collision with a car emerging from a side road on the A59, four miles out of Skipton. "I was going at 50 miles an hour, and the collision was like hitting a brick wall, jettisoning me through the air.

"My heart stopped for five minutes; two ribs had pierced one lung, the other had collapsed, my right leg was broken by the bike falling on top of me. When the helicopter arrived, there was already a big crowd of people there, the fire service, the police, and the helicopter had to land in a field.

"They got my heart going again before putting me in the air ambulance and they had to re-inflate the lungs, which involved implanting steel tubes to get air out of the torso. They must have done a tracheotomy too, to regulate my breathing, which meant I couldn't talk, which is always a blessing!

Martin Barrass meets Yorkshire Air Ambulance paramedics Al Day, left, and Lee Greenwood, who helped to save his life after his motorbike crash, at his May visit

"Had the helicopter not been available, that would have been it for me, but they can travel at 160 miles an hour and they got me to Leeds within 12 minutes. My gratitude to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance will be for the rest of my life."

Martin suffered another heart failure at the LGI. "That was about an hour later, so I've come back from being dead twice," he says. "When I finally came out of the induced coma, they said to me, 'you know you are a miracle'."

One per cent chance of survival, Martin, one per cent. "It just wasn't my time to go," he says. "I'm now part of an exclusive club: someone who has died and come back.

"My barrister [for the court hearing] asked if I'd had a 'Jacob's ladder moment', and I said I'd experienced everything going black and then everything went bright white and there was this man in a pinstriped suit with Mr Whippy hair, looking like Mr Grimsdale [from Norman Wisdom's films] in a job centre. So the Pearly Gates are in fact an incredibly brightly lit job centre."

Such is Martin's appreciation of the skills of Yorkshire Air Ambulance paramedics Al Day and Lee Greenwood – who both featured in BBC1's Helicopter Heroes – that he is to host the Martin Barrass Charity Cricket Match at Heworth Cricket Ground on August 20 with all proceeds going to the YAA.

"It'll be a fun game of 20 overs each side, with my bunch of scoundrels against Heworth, one of the oldest club sides in the country, at a ground that's so immaculate and beautiful, it could be a county ground."

Martin Barrass as the king of Kings, dodgy Malcolm King, in John Godber's irreverent comedyThe Kings Of Hull

Martin's cricketing hero is Geoffrey Boycott – he does a fine impression of Fiery's commentary-box style – but his own prowess is as a spinner. "My Chinaman is something to behold," he says. "I always say, 'spin, the only way'. Everything is in the flight...sometimes a full toss can really surprise the batsman."

The Heworth ground will open at 12.30pm; admission is free but a bucket collection will be held; Yorkshire Air Ambulance will have a stall with big yellow fluffy helicopters, badges etc, and there will be other stalls and a raffle with "some really juicy prizes" too. "Yorkshire Air Ambulance is an independent organisation that needs to raise £12,000 a day to run, so everything like this cricket match helps," says Martin.

He is moving more freely than when he made his return to the stage in Richard Bean's English Civil War comedy drama The Hypocrite at Hull Truck Theatre in late-February. Such was the impact of the crash that his shoulders "froze up". His right shoulder "thawed" first and his left has followed suit, to the extent that he can raise a cup to his lips.

He had returned to the rehearsal rooms only 16 weeks after the crash for The Hypocrite and now, exercising regularly, muscles strengthening, he is ready to start rehearsals for The Kings Of Hull early next month.

Godber's expansive and irreverent new comedy tells the story of the King family across three generations, from the 1960s through to Brexit and beyond. From life on the docks, to Hull prison, a lottery win and success in the coal trade; this is a family whose sons and daughters are struggling to cope in a changing world. The Kings are a family bonded by love but divided by rugby, a river and sibling rivalry, and the gloves are sure to come off at their Golden Wedding party.

"They're so dysfunctional, they make Shameless look like Last Of The Summer Wine," says Martin. "Malcolm King is as dodgy as you can get, and I'd say this play is a celebration of Hull, City of Subculture 2017! As a son of Hull, I'm so proud to be doing this play – and The Hypocrite – for Hull Uk City of Culture. It's such an honour."

Martin, who will bounce back in the York Theatre Royal pantomime this winter, has visited the site of his accident, but he will never ride a motorbike again. "I prefer to cycle now," he says.

Martin Barrass will star in John Godber's The Kings Of Hull at Hull New Theatre from September 27 to October 7. Box office: 01482 300306 or hulltheatres.co.uk

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