A WINDOW cleaner who has been left paralysed from the chest down after falling from the roof of a conservatory has vowed to remain positive and fight to be independent.

Paul Ridewood, 62, was cleaning a conservatory roof in Martingale Road, Billericay, when he slipped, caught his foot on the edge and plummeted eight foot to the ground.

Speaking from his hospital bed at the Royal London Hospital he said: “I landed awkwardly; I cracked my ribs, broke three vertebrae and damaged my spinal cord just below my chest so I am now paralysed from the chest down.

“As I fell I didn’t scream I just went ‘Oh no’, and hit the ground. When I was lying there the first thing I was trying to do was find my phone and realised I couldn’t feel my body - no pain or anything - and that made me realise how serious the situation was.

“I managed to call an ambulance and was talking to the girl saying I felt sleepy and she was telling me that I must stay awake. Then suddenly there was everybody there.

“I must have blacked out as I don’t remember getting to the air ambulance but everyone really looked after me.”

Mr Ridewood, who lives in South Woodham Ferrers with his wife Alison and has cleans windows in Billericay, is unsure of how long he will remain in hospital after the accident two weeks ago but believes it will be at least September, after more treatment in the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore.

But despite his devastating injury Mr Ridewood is determined to eventually get his independence back.

Mr Ridewood, dad to Neil Ridewood, 41, said: “That’s what I’m fighting for; I want to be able to get myself out of bed, to go out and see my customers. I’m going to have to go through pain to achieve it but I’m determined.”

Ross Dee, from Billericay, who has known Mr Ridewood and his family for about 20 years, has started a fundraising page to help support Mr Ridewood when he comes out of hospital. To donate visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/PaulRidewood