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Leicestershire kitesurfer hurt in crash at Hunstanton, Norfolk, glad to be home at last

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A man who suffered multiple injuries in a kitesurfing accident is back home after spending months in hospital learning to walk and talk again.

Dave Coley, 52, of Leicester Forest East, was dragged 20 feet into the air by a freak gust of wind and slammed down on to the sand "like a rag doll" in Hunstanton, Norfolk, in June.

He suffered head injuries, a broken neck, two fractured shoulders, a fractured pelvis, two broken arms and five broken ribs in the accident.

He was found unconscious, face down, by chance by a lifeboat crew returning from another rescue.

Dave, a sewing machine mechanic who has been a windsurfer for 26 years and took up kitesurfing four years ago, is now getting about his bungalow using crutches or a wheeled frame.

He said: "I'm glad to be back in the comfort of my own home. I can get about and I prefer using the sticks.

"The physio comes in the early morning and I do exercises, including a bit of fast walking on the treadmill."

He said he has been able to swim again at Braunstone leisure centre and is managing about six lengths each week with the aid of a float.

Dave spent six months in four different hospitals, including three weeks in the intensive care unit at Addenbrookes Hospital, in Cambridge, and three months learning to walk and talk again in the Young Disabled Unit at Leicester General Hospital.

Wife Debbie, 52, said: "We went back to Addenbrookes to see his consultant.

He said he was "frankly amazed" by how Dave's recovered.

"He said he sees people with fewer injuries who have not made such a good recovery.

"I am surprised how well he is doing, given the extent of his neurological injuries. It's absolutely brilliant he's so determined – he will get better.

"Our younger daughter, Vicky, is very good. She's always pushing him to do the sort of things he needs to do.

"Friends who visit notice the difference and Becky, one of our daughters who comes up from her home in Watford once a week, says 'I've not seen you do that before, dad'.

"He's already exceeded everything he's supposed to be able to do, but he wants to get back as much as possible to how he was before.

"It takes the time it takes. We take each day as it comes and every day gets better."

Colleagues at Fullhurst Community College, in Braunstone, where Debbie works as a family liaison officer, have so far raised £300 for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

"Without them, he wouldn't be here," said Debbie.

"They were the ones to rescue him. We're planning to visit them to say thank you when Dave is well enough.

Dave said: "If I can windsurf again I'll be happy. I can manage to keep going for a few minutes when I walk."

Leicestershire kitesurfer hurt in   crash at Hunstanton, Norfolk,  glad to be   home at last


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