RIK MAYALL appeared to be winning his battle for life yesterday.
The 39-year-old actor and comedian was making good progress in an intensive care unit where he was being treated for serious head injuries following a quad bike accident.
His wife Barbara, who endured a harrowing weekend at his bedside, said: 'We think he is OK. But he is still going through the critical stage.'
Doctors treating him at Plymouth's Derriford Hospital were optimistic about his chances of recovery. 'He has had a comfortable night and remains stable,' said a hospital spokesman. 'We are quite happy with his progress. It is looking hopeful. We are almost through the critical 72-hour time.' Although Mayall remained heavily sedated in intensive care, it was hoped that within days he could be moved to a neurological ward.
His close friend and comic collaborator Adrian Edmondson - they made their names on TV with The Young Ones - visited him over the weekend, as did Peter Richardson, who co-wrote and co-directed last night's Channel Four Comic Strip production Four Men In A Car, starring Mayall. Mrs Mayall was consulted beforehand and said she was 'quite happy' about the screening.
Mayall was trapped under the 600lb quad bike - a four-wheel motorcycle - after it overturned on Thursday evening as he tried to cross a steep slope at his country hideaway near East Allington in south Devon. His three children, Rosie, 11, Sidney, nine, and two-year-old Bonnie were with him but were not on the bike and were not hurt.
Mrs Mayall, who was inside the couple's farmhouse, ran out on hearing the engine stop and found her husband unconscious and pinned down by the bike. A land ambulance was first on the scene, but a paramedic was so concerned by the actor's head injuries and at the possibility of spinal damage, he called in a police helicopter.
Thanks to the paramedic's action, what would have been a 35-minute road journey took just seven minutes by air.
It is not clear whether Mayall was wearing a crash helmet, but one expert has said they are 'absolutely vital'. Warren Reeves, manager of the Quad and Kart Centre in Liskeard, Cornwall, said: 'In my book, anyone who rides a quad wears a helmet. It's common sense.