A MUSICIAN has described how he “lost everything” after being left for dead in a hit-and-run crash.

John ‘Baby John’ Horgan, 47, who has run Didcot’s only music shop since 1996, was found unconscious on the B4494 after being knocked off his motorbike on September 16.

Police believe the motorist who hit him drove off without stopping, while opportunist thieves stole Mr Horgan’s £16,000 customised Suzuki Bandit 600 as he lay helpless in the road.

Since then, following a series of medical setbacks that left him close to death, Mr Horgan’s business has folded and he relies on food parcels donated by friends.

Now the local music community is coming together to host a fundraising gig for him at the Red Hot Blues Club, at Didcot Labour Club, tomorrow night.

The road accident left Mr Horgan with three broken ribs, a punctured lung, internal bleeding, a fractured collarbone, severe concussion and short-term memory loss. He has no recollection of the crash, the other vehicle driving off or of who stole his bike, which he described as “his pride and joy”.

Days after being discharged from hospital, he was rushed back suffering from pneumonia, and weeks later developed a second lung infection.

He realised reopening the Baby John music shop in Cockcroft Road would prove impossible.

He said: “Unfortunately, I couldn’t cope with the situation physically or mentally and because of my head injuries I wasn’t thinking straight.”

On January 10, he collapsed with a blood clot on his lung caused by the trauma of the accident. He just managed to call 999 before he passed out.

He said: “Out of everything that has happened, if I hadn’t made that phone call when I did, I wouldn’t be here. I was seriously ill.

“The amazing thing is that I’m still walking and talking and not paralysed.

“Somebody upstairs was definitely looking after me that evening.”

Now, six weeks after coming back home, blood-thinning drugs mean surgeons cannot operate on his collarbone or leg.

His injuries mean he is not able to play his guitar.

His income has dried up following his business’ closure and he relies on friends and family bringing him food to get by.

Without evidence about the nature of his motorbike crash, his insurers paid him £750.

He says he has lost so much money through his injury, his shop will never reopen.

He said: “I’ve lost everything.

“Every pain, every twitch, every shortness of breath, I think I’m having a heart attack or I have another blood clot.

“I have good days and bad days, but my customers, the music community, my friends and family and the bike community have been incredible.

“It has affected me in a big way, and I’ve been extremely low, but the fact I’ve got all these people rallying for me and prepared to do all this for me, it makes my life worthwhile.

“We all have to have money to survive, but I feel like the richest man on Earth at the moment.”

Red Hot Blues Club organiser Annie Birchall said hundreds of local people wanted to show Mr Horgan their support.

She said: “Without Baby John’s shop, people in Didcot are bereft.

“It was not just somewhere he sold guitar strings, it was where people met to talk about and make music.

“If it does not open again, it will be a huge loss.”

Entry to the gig is £5. Doors open at 7.30pm.