A PARAGLIDING enthusiast says he is going to defer to his wife and children’s wishes to “stay grounded” after surviving a serious crash -  his third in two years.

Jim Taylor, 45, from Esh Winning, County Durham, was paragliding from Carlton Bank, on the edge of the North York Moors when he was injured earlier this month.

Mr Taylor, who has three grown-up children and one grandchild, had been performing a manoeuvre called scratching a lift at the time - getting as near to the ridge as possible to gain lift.

As he was so close he then prepared for a slope landing, and took his feet out of his leg pod. But he realised he needed a better air current and pushed away from the ridge.

As he did so, his foot caught on something in the bracken and he broke two bones in his leg. Stranded about 40 metres down the steep slope, he radioed for help. Members of North Yorkshire Sailwing (CORRECT) Club quickly reached the scene and contacted Cleveland Mountain Rescue Team and the Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

He was treated at the scene by a doctor and ambulance paramedic and taken up the slope on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance.

It was his third serious crash in the last two years. He was involved in two accidents while paragliding in Spain in 2011 and was still receiving treatment for spinal and compression injuries at James Cook University Hospital’s neurology department when he was involved in the latest incident.

Mr Taylor said: “My wife, Marrie, has expressed her relief that I will not be paragliding any more, as this is my third serious and potentially fatal incident, in the space of two years. To make matters worse, it was my 22nd wedding anniversary and Marrie’s birthday on the same day.

“Thankfully, I had already purchased two bouquets of flowers and a birthday card before I got to the flying site and made it clear to the other pilots and medics whilst being treated to make sure the flowers were delivered.”

Mr Taylor thanked all the emergency teams involved in his rescue, saying it took “hard work and dedication”, as well as his wife.

He said his family have told him his wings have been clipped and there will be no more paragliding for him.

But he added: “Flying is like any sport when you enjoy it, it’s like a virus that takes you over. It’s extremely hard to leave it alone. My family will have a huge task ahead to keep me grounded.”