A man was left fighting for his life and spent almost a year in hospital and rehabilitation centres after falling into a river following a night out.

Former St Simon Stock student Lewis Hardy was rushed to King's College Hospital on June 18 last year after falling from Maidstone bridge into the River Medway.

The 26-year-old was put into a critical condition after suffering serious brain and kidney injuries and had been returning from watching England play Scotland at Euro 2020 in the town centre.

Lewis, from Allington, was pulled out from the waters by police officers patrolling the bridge and given CPR at the scene before being put on a ventilation machine and flown to the London hospital.

He was placed on life support and later transferred to the intensive care unit at St Thomas' hospital.

For the next week the Maidstone man remained in a critical condition and slowly showed signs of improvements, and after 10 days he could start to come off the ventilator, before being moved to Maidstone hospital after two weeks.

He remained there until late August before being moved to a rehabilitation unit where he stayed until May this year.

Now, while he continues to make strides towards recovery, his family have praised the NHS for their incredible work and have raised dozens of donations for them.

Brother Matt Hardy, a window fitter from Maidstone, said: "If you’d seen Lewis a year ago, you wouldn’t believe how well he’s doing now. After the accident, we were concerned that the lack of oxygen might affect his brain in the long-term.

"Me and my mum went to see him in hospital the following morning. Throughout the day he was showing little signs of response and we were told he might not make it.

“Though it was obviously such a scary time for the family, the staff at St Thomas’ were so calm no matter the situation. We were always kept up to date and they were really good with all of the different questions we had. They were all working so hard to save Lewis.

“When he was sedated he was extremely confused and at one point thought I was still working in a job that I’d left five years ago. It turned out it was because of the effect the sedation had on his system."

'We were told he might not make it...'

The 25-year-old abseiled down St Thomas's building with his fianceé Tasha at the end of September and have raised more than £1,000 for the hospital.

He added: "He’s now back to his old self, still taking the mick out of me and having a laugh like he always has.

"He’s had to relearn to walk and is still undergoing a lot of physio but he’s so determined. He’s working towards getting back to driving, which is something he’s always loved.

“It was a great experience and it’s nice to do something fun whilst raising money for such a worthwhile cause.

"Tasha and myself were so pleased to have exceeded our fundraising target and are so grateful for the opportunity. It was an added bonus having great views of London up top.”

Lewis, who was watching the abseil from the ground, said: "It was a really good day. Great watching Matt and Tasha doing a brilliant thing for such a worthy cause.

“On the day, I went to the ICU where I was treated. Even though I thought I didn’t remember anything as I was sedated the whole time, as soon as I heard all of the machines beeping, it brought it back to me.

“It was really good to see it all and properly meet the staff who cared for me and see the ECMO machine that saved my life.

"It really brought home how grateful I am to everyone. I can’t thank Dr Meadows, Dr Slack, Dr Tricklebank, all of the nurses and everyone else who looked after me enough.”

Dr Meadows added: “We’re extremely grateful to Matt and Tasha for taking on the St Thomas’ Abseil in support of the ECMO service. On behalf of the whole team, I’d like to say thank you and wish them the best of luck.

“For many people there continue to be challenges following intensive care but it is fantastic to see Lewis doing so well with his recovery and rehabilitation. His determination and the support of his family and friends are in no small way responsible for that. We wish him all the best.”

The river in Maidstone town centre has been a source of trouble for many people, including a woman who was saved earlier this year.

There have been many similar incidents over the past few years, including two men in the past two years whose bodies were found in the river.