A holidaymaker has miraculously survived falling seven storeys from his Benidorm apartment block as he waved to friends below.
Neil Ellerton was lucky enough to fall on some plastic roofing, which broke his fall – although he did fracture his skull, back, ribs, collarbone and suffered a collapsed lung.
His partner, Zoe Irving, 29, has spoken of the terrifying moment she watched him go over the railings on their balcony before her eyes.
Zoe and Neil were on their balcony with their children, Nathan, 10, and Jaden, four, enjoying the last night of their Spanish holiday, when Neil spotted some friends he made earlier in the holiday.
With the family due to fly out hours later, Neil, 43, lent over the railings to tell them to enjoy the rest of their stay.
Seconds later, he went over the balcony and plummeted to the ground.
Shocked Zoe said: “I tried to grab his arm, but he just slipped through. I thought, ‘Oh god, he’s dead isn’t he?’
“But I just ran for the stairs as fast as I could and he had been lucky enough to land on some temporary plastic roofing.
“All the police, emergency services and fire brigades were excellent and got there in a matter of minutes, but to me it felt like hours and hours.
“I really thought I might lose him.”
Neil was rushed to the nearest intensive care unit 15 minutes away where the extent of his injuries was discovered.
He had fractured his skull, back, ribs and collarbone, and was suffering from a collapsed lung.
He was placed on a ventilator and had to be put into an induced coma.
Despite his life-threatening injuries, Zoe was not able to stay by his side because she had to get back to her children.
She said: “It was devastating. It felt like he broke every single bone in his body, but I had to get back to the kids so we could catch our flight at 6am.
“I didn’t want to leave, but I couldn’t stay in Spain with no money and no one to look after the kids.”
Zoe returned to the couple’s home in Hull, East Yorks., where their children were left in the care of their grandmother.
She then took to social media to appeal for help to get back to Spain and find accommodation.
She arrived back at her partner’s side last Friday, a day after he had woken from his coma, but still in a critical condition.
Zoe said he was constantly in-and-out of consciousness and was regularly confused by his surroundings.
Whether or when Neil will make a full recovery is unclear, but if he does, the family will need to raise roughly £15,000 to return as Mr Ellerington will require a special medical flight where he can lie flat for the entirety of the journey.
ENDS
