A CWMBRAN man who lost his leg after he jumped in front of a train two years ago has spoken of his battle to recover.

Father-of-two Gareth Hubbarde had to have three quarters of his leg amputated after he was hit by a train at Cwmbran railway station in March 2014.

Mr Hubbarde, 38, had been suffering from depression since 2012 and was off work and on anti-depressants. His mental health worsened when he moved away to a small village in mid-Wales and found himself isolated.

But even after returning to his home in Cwmbran and getting himself back on his feet, he began having problems at work and his relationship ended.

He said: “I just felt utterly lost and useless.

“I remember seeing the train coming and seeing the lights. I remember the lights coming towards me and the driver blasting the horn.

“The next thing I knew I was conscious. I just thought, I’m not dead.

“I woke up in the hospital with my family and the knowledge then that I lost about three quarters of my leg and it took about a week to come to terms with it.”

Since then Mr Hubbarde, who now has a prosthetic leg, has turned his life around but said it has been a “battle”.

He cannot work because of constant pain but his mental health is much better. He and his “brilliant” partner of 18 months are now expecting another baby next month.

Mr Hubbarde said: “I saw a psychiatrist for a good year afterwards and we talked and I said it’s the best thing that ever happened to me.

“My old life ended that day, which it should have done to be perfectly honest. Everything since then has been a whole new life.”

He now volunteers at a disability advice project in Cwmbran helping other people with disabilities and has started playing wheelchair tennis.

He is now fundraising for £375 to go towards a tennis wheelchair which will help him play. He has applied for a grant to cover the cost of the rest of the wheelchair, which costs £900.

He said: “I'm thrilled to finally find a sport I can do and am actually not bad at.

“I have regular coaching and am hopeful to push myself to tournament standard. I have no way to raise this amount of money and need your help to realise my ambition.”

To donate visit gofundme.com/h3mfnqhr