A grandad who broke his neck and spine in a horror kayaking accident says he was saved from drowning in the nick of time.
Neil Bascombe, 61, was found face down in the sea at Blackpool Sands, near Dartmouth, in Devon.
He was on the first full day of his family holiday when he decided to take a break from exploring the caves and join his son Jason and grandchildren on the beach.
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The 61-year-old office partitioner paddled his kayak between two rocks to moor but after climbing out he slipped and fell, fracturing his spine and neck, and suffering concussion after hitting his head.
In a shocking account of the fall, he says he remembers being upside down with his head under the water.
“If I hadn’t been rescued I wouldn’t be here, I would have drowned,” he said.
“The RNLI were fantastic and it was not an easy rescue.
“There was no other way I was getting off those rocks.
“At first I was upside down with my head in the water.
“I was out of it and remember telling myself not to breathe in the water.
“I managed to haul myself onto a flat rock.
“But my phone had gone into the sea.
“I was in so much pain – everything hurt.
“I couldn’t lift my head up or keep my eyes open.
“I had blood on my legs, my shirt was shredded and there was a wound on my head.”
Neil’s son Marcus was on his paddleboard when the accident happened, but was out of sight when his father fell.
He eventually found him lying on the rocks.
After trying and failing to get his dad back on the kayak, he moved him further away from the water and put him in a foetal position.
Marcus then went to alert the rest of the family who called the coastguard.
He returned with his brother Jason on the front of his paddleboard.
Neil said: “I was getting colder and colder and the sun had disappeared.
“I had never been so cold in my life and I couldn’t move my arms or my legs.
“I was so relieved to see my sons.
“Jason tried to make me more comfortable while Marcus went out to help guide the lifeboat to where I was.
“Their response time was so quick.
“I remember lots of voices and they were deciding what to do but I was in so much pain and the tide was coming in and I was getting wet.
“A wave covered me and water went in my mouth.
“I couldn’t wait any longer and said they had to move me now.
“I knew it was going to hurt – and that was before I knew I had broken five vertebrae.”
Dartford’s RNLI lifeboat crew were first on the scene and managed to move Neil onto a stretcher.
He was then transferred to a waiting Atlantic 85 lifeboat, as reported by Need To Know.
Neil said: “They were brilliant.
“I was so relieved when I knew I was not going to freeze to death.
“They did their utmost to keep me comfortable.”
Neil was taken to Torbay Hospital by ambulance and spent a week undergoing treatment and tests.
It was only after returning home that further investigations revealed three breaks in his neck and two in his spine.
Neil is now off work and recovering.
He added: “I’m thankful that I’m still here.
“I was so immobile and creased up with pain in the cold.
“I feel very lucky that I’m still here and able to walk after the injuries.
“Anything could have gone wrong and I wouldn’t be here.
“It’s going to take some time but I should eventually be back to normal.”
Neil’s wife Jackie added: “We just want to thank everyone from the RNLI and others involved in the rescue.
“He wouldn’t be here today without them.
“The whole thing was very traumatic.”
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