Qasim Akhtar, 27, took to Instagram to post a selfie from his hospital bed after suffering painful injuries in a quad bike crash. The actor, who played Zeedan Nazir on Coronation Street from 2014 to 2018 shared the shocking news with his 51,000 followers yesterday, admitting that the incident had been “a huge wake up call”. He captioned the post: “Took a major L (Lesson) yesterday. Had an accident on the quad bike. Split my lower abdominal, bruised lung, fractured arm and a couple deep wounds. “To be honest though as bad as they sound and as much pain as I’m in right now I’m counting my blessings to have only picked up these injuries and not some life threatening ones.”
The star also tried to see the positive side of the incident, as he revealed a new-found respect for life.
He continued: “Huge wake up call! I’m already on the road to recovery and even though I’m yet to find the silver lining, I like to see every negative situation I find myself in as a blessing in disguise.
“God works in mysterious ways. My appreciation for life just reached a new level.”
Qasim concluded the post by encouraging his fans to wear helmets to protect themselves, as he credited the safety gear for saving him.
“I urge people riding quads to wear helmets cos even though legally you don’t need too, that saved me from a fatal injury for real.”(sic.)
He is pictured in a hospital gown with a bandage strapped to his hand, while covering his face.
Many of Quasim’s followers took to the comments section of his post to share their get well wishes.
One wrote: “Hope for a fast recovery.”
Another fan added: “I’ve seen a few of my friends and family have accidents in quads! I hate them.”
A third supporter responded: “Get well soon, I know it must hurt but omg it could have been so much worse, xxx”
A fourth replied: “@qas_akhtar I will defo wear a helmet now! Get well soon, take it easy!”(sic.)
A fifth praised the star: “Love the way you look at this. Hope you recover quickly x”
Quasim also shared additional images of the wounds he had sustained on his Instagram story.
The former Coronation Street favourite posted a photo of a particularly painful injury on his stomach, as he continued to admit his shock over the repercussions from the crash.
He added a caption to explain the snap, revealing: “We still don’t know how that happened?!”