Perth dad James Kennedy rescued from hills after crashing mountain bike

A Perth father has been rescued from bushland in the hills east of Perth after crashing his mountain bike in rough terrain.

He was lifted to safety by the RAC rescue chopper.

Deep in the Perth hills the steep, rocky terrain and strong winds made it a nail biting rescue.

Strapped inside the cradle being winched delicately into the RAC rescue chopper was cyclist James Kennedy.

The father of three was riding through bush on his mountain bike with mates when he crashed.

“I kind of rolled over and you know, I could kind of feel that things were broken and moving around,” he said.

“Maybe it was lack of concentration, sleep, I really don't know because it was just one of those things that as I was crashing, I just thought ‘how could this be happening?’”

Stuck in dense bush, kilometres from anything, one of his friends called for help.

The trip to Royal Perth Hospital took just seven minutes via helicopter.

“We all have friends that ride that have had serious head and spinal injuries some with quite lasting effects so it’s something that’s kind of in the back of your mind,” Mr Kennedy said.

James has a smashed collarbone and arm, but says he’s lucky things weren’t worse and is incredibly grateful for the crew who risked their lives to help him.