BY: By William Telford
WORRIED fans of injured TV comic Rik Mayall have swamped the switchboard at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth with goodwill messages following his horrific quad bike accident.
Inquiries from as far away as Australia have been flooding in from supporters wanting to say get well to the Comic Strip star, who was flown to hospital with serious head injuries.
Cards and flowers have also been arriving at the hospital where Mr Mayall, 39, was yesterday visited by fellow Comic Strip stars Ade Edmondson and Peter Richardson.
Hospital spokeswoman Terry West said: "There have been flowers and cards coming in, and calls every 15 minutes for the past two days.
"Messages from fans have been passed on to Mrs Mayall. It's been non-stop for the switchboard."
She added that Rik's Comic Strip colleagues Ade and Peter had been in close touch with the actor's wife Barbara, who has been at his bedside since Thursday.
Positive
This morning Mr Mayall's condition was said to be stable.
Doctors were expected to move him from intensive care into the neuro-surgical ward at the hospital. Mrs West said: "That's a much more positive step."
But even though Rik has survived a touch-and-go 72 hours since Thursday's accident, she warned: "He is not out of the woods yet."
The funnyman, star of TV hits The Young Ones, Bottom, and The Comic Strip Presents, sustained serious head injuries when the 600lb four-wheeled quad bike toppled onto him as he rode up a steep field at his farm in East Allington, near Kingsbridge. It is not known if he was wearing a helmet.
The star was airlifted to hospital by police helicopter. At the hospital Rik's wife Barbara has kept a bedside vigil.
Yesterday the dad-of-three was sedated, but not in a coma, and the prognosis was said to be 'much more optimistic'. Mrs Mayall was also more hopeful, and said in a brief statement: "We think he's OK." A Channel 4 spokeswoman said that the station had decided to screen a new Comic Strip caper, Four Men In A Car, starring Rik, last night, after getting the go ahead from his family.
She said: "Peter Richardson has been in touch with Rik's family and they are keen we go ahead with the transmission.
Concerned
We were very upset to hear about the accident."
At Rik's local village pub, the Fortescue Arms, landlord Mark Reeves, said villagers were wishing the star well. He added: "Everybody is concerned."