A FIREFIGHTER who was crippled and almost died in a road accident is now walking again, just two weeks after pioneering surgery performed at Medway Maritime Hospital.

Sub-officer Mark Rowe, 39, from Hempstead, near Gillingham, lost consciousness after the van he was driving crashed into a metal post as he steered off the A228 near Stoke, near Strood, to avoid a lorry earlier this month.

As he drifted in and out of consciousness in hospital, it looked as if the keen athlete might never walk again and might not even survive surgery.

But just hours after a remarkable operation that had never been performed before at Medway Maritime Hospital, he was sitting up in bed.

When Mr Rowe, a father of two, was taken to the hospital, his arms and legs were paralysed. A disc in his neck had slipped and was pressing on his spinal cord. Had it slipped much further, his spinal cord would have snapped and killed him.

Operations like this are normally carried out at specialist hospitals like King’s College Hospital, London and Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Buckingham-shire, but their lists were full.

Consultant Alan Hammer and his team planned Mr Rowe's operation with the specialist hospitals, even hiring the medical equipment.

They then removed the slipped disc in Mr Rowe's neck, fused bones in his vertebrae and fitted a collar to support his neck.

Now back at home and being nursed by wife Karen, he may be back at work in six months.

He added: "Words cannot express how hugely relieved and thankful I am to the surgical team and all the staff involved in my care, especially A and E, Arethusa Ward and intensive care. It is just wonderful to have the full use of my arms and legs again."