Builder Clive Richardson transforms his life after motorcycle accident

Oct 26 2009 by Joanne Douglas, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A BUILDER who was left disabled and unable to work following a motorcycle accident has turned the tables on fate.

Clive Richardson, 50, was a building expert before he lost his right arm, incurred a closed brain injury, punctured his lung and broke many of his bones, in the accident in 1994.

But now he has turned his life around and completed a PhD at Huddersfield University, that could play a significant role in reducing climate change.

Clive, now Dr Richardson, has devised a building products labelling scheme, which allows people to know how environmentally safe the products they buy are.

It is something likened to the carbon footprint for building products and Clive, of Elland, says it is something that should have been done long ago.

“I’d worked for 11 or 12 years as a builder and was self-employed, but I couldn’t continue to do that,’’ he said.

“So I started studying what I was interested in and now here I am with a PhD.

“I never thought I’d become a doctor – it’s been a lot of hard work.”

Clive, who uses a single arm drive wheelchair to get about, embarked upon his 12-year-long academic journey, after recovering from his accident.

For his PhD he identified and audited carbon dioxide emissions during the production of building products.

He took the figures already available from factories and converted them into a format, which made clear the level of carbon emissions.

Along the way he was supported by wife Gillian and children Lee, now 17, and Danielle, 15.