Ryan Farquhar attended the tribute lap at the North West 200 course in memory of Malachi Mitchell-Thomas, 

with his wife Karen and children Keeley and Mya.

Ryan Farquhar has been released from hospital following the latest setback in his recovery from a serious crash at the North West 200 in May, the News Letter can reveal.

The 40-year-old Dungannon racer was readmitted to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast on Tuesday, June 28, days after he attended a tribute lap with his wife Karen and daughters, Keeley and Mya, in memory of English racer Malachi Mitchell-Thomas.

The promising young 20-year-old was killed in a crash in the Supertwins race at the North West 200 and hundreds of bikers turned out to pay their respects with a lap around the 8.9-mile ‘Triangle’ course on Sunday, June 26.

Farquhar’s injuries included six broken ribs and a lacerated liver and the Co Tyrone rider was left in a critical condition. He underwent an operation upon his latest return to hospital and is now recuperating with his family on the north coast in Portrush.

In a recent column in the News Letter’s Keep ’er Lit motorcycling pull-out, Farquhar said: “Whenever you come so close to death twice, I’m just so thankful that somebody was looking over me and I’m blessing my lucky stars that I’m alive.

“Whenever I came off I had a really bad laceration to my liver and the medical team knew there was a problem with it.

“That’s why they had to send me in the police helicopter, because they needed two doctors with me.

“They were afraid that my liver would start to bleed, and if that had happened on the helicopter it would’ve been all over.”

Farquhar – Ireland’s most successful ever Irish National road racer – retired from the sport in 2012 following his uncle’s death in a crash at the Manx Grand Prix.

However, he returned on a smaller scale on 2013, focusing his efforts on the Supertwins and Classic machines, before stepping up his involvement once more.

He was set to ride alongside Ian Hutchinson for Northern Ireland’s Tyco BMW team in the Superbike and Senior races at this year’s Isle of Man TT until fate intervened.

Kyle White