A FUNDRAISING page has been set up to help a dad who was paralysed in a motorbike crash to buy a new wheelchair.

Gareth Hughes, 36, was out riding with friends when he fell off his bike on the B4235 between Chepstow and Usk on May 29 last year, leaving him in a critical condition with a broken back in three places, broken ribs and sternum and punctured lungs.

The dad of four was in a coma for six weeks, in which time his heart stopped twice.

Unable to speak, sit up or pick up a pen, Mr Hughes, was told it was unlikely he would ever be able to walk again.

But Mr Hughes, formerly of Chepstow and now Lydney, is now able to move his feet and is in “no doubt” that he will walk again.

His sister, Laura Hughes, has now set up a JustGiving page to help her brother in his bid to walk again.

The page has been set up with the aim of raising £4,000 for a new wheelchair which would enable Mr Hughes to become more independent.

Ms Hughes states on the page: “He is my inspiration.

“He has come so far in a year as me and my family didn’t know what way it was going to go.

“He is the strongest person I have ever known.

“I would be really grateful if you could help me to help him.”

A total of £160 has currently been raised on the JustGiving page.

After the bike crash, Mr Hughes said some people feared the worst.

“The surgeon who did the initial operation said he had never seen a break that bad,” Mr Hughes previously told the Free Press.

“If I didn’t have the muscle mass I did I would have died straight away.”

He added: “They were calling me the miracle man because after I had a blood clot on my chest some of my friends were getting ready to say goodbye to me.”

The former doorman is continuing his recovery with the help of Bertie’s Caldicot Amateur Boxing Club (ABC) in Sudbrook.

Martin Lewis, who runs the club, has been coaching Mr Hughes as part of his recovery so that he can hopefully achieve a long-held dream to have a boxing match.

The gym, which opened in January, was awarded £2,500 from the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Partnership Fund earlier this month to buy new boxing equipment.

Mr Lewis wants to encourage people with disabilities to join, as well as diverting young people away from anti-social behaviour. Visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/laura-hughes-2.