The Royal Gazette yesterday.

Top soccer player Mr. Kris Martin was racing another motorcyclist when he crashed face-first on a dangerous bend near Tatems Hill in Spanish Point, claimed two Pembroke parish residents.

The person he was racing had been far ahead of him and failed to return.

Meanwhile, a group of men quickly descended upon the scene and took the victim's bike and helmet, one area resident said.

"He hit and the friend ran but it was not a hit and run,'' said the witness, who did not want to be identified for fear of recriminations.

Another witness was so angry with the men for trying to take off the helmet of an accident victim who may have had neck or spinal injuries that she walked off in disgust after doing all she could to help him.

Dandy Town player Mr. Martin, 28, was last night still in critical condition in the intensive care unit, though he was now considered stable, a King Edward VII Memorial Hospital nursing official said.

The witnesses who described the bike accident yesterday came forward out of concern that people were being led to believe it was a hit-and-run.

The first woman said she watched Mr. Martin and another bike rider race towards Hamilton at about 1 p.m. doing about 70 k.p.h., and then saw them turn around and start to come back.

"I knew, just by seeing where he was and how fast he was going, that he was not going to make the turn -- it's a dangerous bend,'' she said.

"Then I heard a scraping sound and saw the guy sliding down the road spread-eagle, all the way down, flat on his face. He must have travelled five to six feet with his arms out and the bike ahead of him.'' The woman said she immediately dialled 911 while others rushed to help him.

"Seconds later a bunch of guys ran down from Admiralty House and cut his helmet off with a knife. They grabbed both his helmet and his bike and ran leaving him laying in the road like it was a hit and run. Apparently this sort of thing happens quite often.'' The second woman, who had CPR training, said that what upset her was that by taking off his helmet the men could have further injured him if he had spinal injuries.

"I said to them not to try and take his helmet off. But they ignored me. It (the helmet) might have been incriminating, I assume.'' Both women said a Police officer had asked them a few questions and said he would return on Saturday for a statement, but neither had seen him since.

"Whether this is because he's some fantastic soccer player or there's more to it, I don't know,'' the first woman said.

Police, noting the absence of any vehicles at the scene, put out an appeal last Friday for witnesses and the missing rider to contact P.c. Terry Thomas of the motorcycle squad.

Spokesperson Sgt. Roseanda Jones said Police never stated the accident was a hit-and-run. "We know both vehicles involved in the accident were not at the scene. And we are still trying to find the other rider,'' Sgt. Jones said last night.