has dedicated his victory to the wife he nearly lost in a road accident in Hay-on-Wye.

Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, spoke of the most difficult moment of his life when he picked up the prize and a £25,000 cheque at the ceremony in London last week.

At the time of the accident, in September last year, Haddon's wife, Sos, was 27 weeks pregnant. Thankfully, she recovered and their son, Zac, was born healthy nine weeks ago.

Collecting the prize for his novel about a 15-year-old boy with Asperger's syndrome, Haddon told the audience of their ordeal.

The couple were on a cycling holiday in Hay when Sos was out of sight ahead of her husband. He recalled cycling around a corner to find his wife lying unconscious on the ground in a pool of blood after a collision with a Range Rover.

He said: "The next half hour was the longest and most difficult of my life, while we waited for a helicopter to take us to hospital. I'll never forget kneeling on this tiny country road, seeing the person I love most in the world and thinking they were dying in front of me.

He added: "Our son was born nine weeks ago and he's perfect." Turning to his wife, Haddon said: "Sos, thank you for being here. This book was, is and always will be for you. I love you."

The judges said that Haddon's book used disability to throw a light upon the world.

The Curious Incident, which was universally acclaimed by the critics, is about 15-year-old Christopher Boone, who discovers a poodle skewered with a pitchfork on a neighbour's lawn. He sets out to discover the identity of the killer.

Christopher is a maths genius but his condition, a form of autism, means he lacks the emotional responses to interact with the world around him.