Shropshire father-of-three had skull shattered and was left unrecognisable in freak tractor accident

Father-of-three Paul Milner, 47, from just outside Shrewsbury, was left unrecognisable after the hook fractured his eye socket and jaw bone and smashed his skull, leaving his head permanently indented.

The self-employed farm worker was helping tow a broken down tractor six months ago when a link on the chain to his vehicle snapped.

It sent the hook ricocheting into the side of his head – and although he also suffered a brain injury, Mr Milner recovered after half a year in hospital.

His wife Natacha Milner, 30, speaking for the first time about the accident, said: "When I first saw Paul he was a mess – it was hard to recognise him. Doctors had been telling me how bad it was.

"When I asked the prognosis they said 'let's just get through the night first', but when I saw him I was still so shocked.

"The right side of his face was incredibly swollen and unnatural-looking and he has been left with a dip on the right side of his head where they took his skull away.

"The left side of his face looks exactly the same as it did before but he had so many fractures on the right side of his face that it looks completely different.

"Seeing the CT scans it hit me how lucky Paul was – surgeons said most people with these types of injuries do not survive.

"When we had days we thought we were going to lose him I just thought 'how am I going to tell the kids?'.

"I made the decision to take the children in to see him a week after the accident, against most people's judgement, but it was the best thing I could've done. He didn't look like daddy, but he looked enough like daddy for them to recognise him."

The accident occurred on a farm near the family's home on April 8 after Mr Milner offered to help tow another worker's tractor in the tractor he was driving.

A link in the high tension tow chain between the vehicles snapped and an 11 inch metal hook ricocheted into the back of Mr Milner's tractor cab.

The hook, which weighed approximately 2st 3lbs on its own and 5st 6lbs with the chain, then hit him in the right side of the head. The impact of the hook and chain, which measured approximately 14ft in total, shattered Mr Milner's skull and caused a traumatic brain injury.

He was airlifted to the Royal Stoke University Hospital for an emergency craniotomy to remove part of his skull.

The next day he had more surgery to remove a blood clot from behind his right eye, which has left him partially sighted.

He also underwent three more operations for facial fractures including a shattered eye socket and jawbone while battling blood, chest and cerebral fluid infections.

Mrs Milner, a former pre-school manager and full-time mother to sons William, 10, Lewis, four, and Albie-Jorge, two, said doctors told her numerous times to prepare for the worst. But after spending a month in a critical condition and a further 20 weeks on a specialist neurological ward, he was discharged from hospital on September 23.

Mr Milner can now can only speak in a whisper and eat puréed foods due to paralysed vocal cords and he has also lost the use of his left arm, meaning he must rely on a wheelchair or use a stick to walk.

A group of mothers Mrs Milner met while pregnant set up a fund to support the family and now nearly £7,500 has been donated to help them pay to adapt their home.

The family used a £10,000 critical care insurance pay out to buy a new wheelchair-friendly car and the rest of the fund will be put towards house improvements and help the couple in the run-up to Christmas.

Mrs Milner said: "Paul went to work as usual in the morning and phoned at about 5.50pm to say he would have been on his way home but needed to help someone so would be an hour and a half. When he didn't come home I didn't worry initially – a farmer's hour and a half can be anything.

"Paul was injured because he went to help someone else and that is typical of him, he would do anything to help anybody out and that is just the sort of person he is.

"The fundraising has been unbelievable and just phenomenal – knowing so many people care has been a massive boost for both of us. Paul has done amazingly, he has his down days but he is so strong and determined."

Mr Milner said: "I just want to regain as much independence as possible and be able to provide for my family again.

"I am overwhelmed with the support shown to us by Tach's birth board mums, they are incredible. The kindness by them, by family and friends, and strangers is too much to put in to words."

A spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive said: "I can confirm that HSE is currently investigating this incident."