A week after fearing the worst following a horror crash, 'Rising Star' will be back in action for Peterborough Panthers

​The Norwich-based youngster admitted: “I did fear the worst as I hit the fence.”

‘Rising Star’ Jenkins, whose form has been one of the bright spots in a dismal season for Panthers, was catapulted into the air fence while riding for Championship club Oxford less than a week ago.

He clipped former teammate Chris Harris’s back wheel and went headfirst into the safety barrier at Sandy Lane, demolishing a long stretch of the fence and causing a near 45-minute delay as he received medical treatment and the fence was repaired.

“I’ve always thought the worst after a bad accident but I’m over it now,” Jenkins said. “It was one of those things, it’s racing.

He missed the Panthers visit to Ipswich last Thursday, but has been given the green light to resume racing and will be in the line-up for the trip to fellow strugglers King’s Lynn tomorrow.

Jenkins recalled: “I feel like I made a reasonable start and I felt as though I was in a good position going round the bend, but Bomber (Harris) made one of his million miles an hour dives on the inside and I just clipped the back of him as he turned in. As soon as I hit him I knew I was in trouble.

“I got off the side of the bike, but my hand was still on the throttle. It was horrifying when I realised I was a passenger and heading towards the fence at a reasonable speed and knowing that I couldn’t do anything about it.

“I took a lot of the impact and I went in upside down, I couldn’t feel my legs for the first 30 seconds. That was a scary moment

“I have had some crashes in the past, but this was up there with them. You always think the worst in that second when you crash and then you start to assess yourself. You try to wiggle your toes, wiggle your hands, and work your way up your body, chest, neck and head.”

After limping back to the pits and receiving the once over from the track doctor, Jenkins refused to quit and went out for each of his last three programmed rides, finishing last in the first one before picking up a second place and rounding off the night with a race win.

Jenkins added: “It’s never nice having a bad accident, but you don’t let it affect you, that’s why I was keen to get back on the bike.

“It’s never good to have a bad accident and then have a gap of a few days before your next meeting. The best thing for me to do was to get straight back on the bike which meant the difference between going home with a good memory rather than a bad one.

“I was in a lot of pain, but it was a top two clash, a big meeting between my team Oxford, who were top of the Championship and Glasgow who were second, both of us unbeaten in the league.

“I did feel like we could win the meeting, so I thought I’ll give it a go and, if after one or two rides I wasn’t feeling comfortable, I’d withdraw from the meeting.

“I dug deep and with the adrenaline I got through it, but I paid for it on the way home and the following morning, I was as stiff as a board.”

Oxford won the meeting 52-38.