A MOTHER-OF-FOUR has described how her family has been devastated by a holiday accident in which her husband was left paralysed from the neck down.

Ian Corkhill, 36, is recovering in the spinal unit of the James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, after he fell into a pool on a Spanish island.

He broke his neck in two places when he hit his head on the bottom of the pool, which had not been properly filled.

Louise Corkhill, 32, of Murton, near Seaham, County Durham, said: "It is absolutely devastating. Ian keeps saying 'I'll never get my legs back, but just give me the feeling in my arms so that I can cuddle my children'.

"He is a hands-on dad and it has been terribly hard for him to come to terms with his condition.

"My children saw it happen and they are all having counselling.

"We want people to be aware of the dangers of pools when they go abroad."

Mrs Corkhill said the accident happened at a resort at Fuerteventura, in the Canary Islands. The couple were on holiday with their children Owen, five, Liam, nine, Sophie, 12, and Stacey, 14.

Mr Corkhill was standing on the side of the pool when some young children accidentally nudged him as they ran past, causing him to lose balance.

Mrs Corkhill said: "He thought he might look a bit foolish if he fell into the pool, so he tried to get into a diving position so that onlookers might think that he was making a deliberate dive rather than an accidental fall into the pool.

"The first thing I knew anything was wrong was when I heard someone say he's bleeding. I turned around to see him face-down in water. There was blood everywhere.

"I thought he was dead and started screaming for someone to help us."

The lifeguard, who was patrolling three pools that day, was not there and Mr Corkhill was helped by another holiday maker.

Mrs Corkhill said the water level of the pool appeared to have fallen about 2ft on the day of the accident.

She said: "If the pool had been full, his injuries may not have been as bad."

Solicitor John Davis, at Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, said a claim for damages was being prepared against the resort in Spain.