DAVID Perkins was a keen skier and sub aqua diver until a tragic moment which changed his life.

He was attending a barbecue party at Stourport's Mount Olympus Hotel in July 1983 when he dived into a pool which contained just two feet of water.

He fractured his spine at the neck in the accident and was left paralysed from the chest down. David Perkins in the lightweight wheelchair he is forced to use because he is waiting for a replacement.

In 1992 he successfully sued the then owners, Aljocon Ltd, for negligence, claiming someone should have been attending the pool or there should have been signs indicating the pool depth.

The company denied liability but agreed to award him £200,000 damages.

Since then he has been left wheelchair bound, using an electric wheelchair outside and in his conservatory. A manual wheelchair is kept in his home for use in other parts of the house, while a second wheelchair is kept in his car.

He is waiting for a replacement manual chair as being without it affects his quality of life and leaves him at risk from a fall out of the lightweight chair he keeps for emergencies, he said.