Bannau Brycheiniog: Young man left paralysed after falling during Brecon Beacons hike

Liam Lewry's partner fears he won't be able to return to his career as an electrician. Credit: Media Wales/PA

A young man has been told he could be paralysed from the waist down for life after a 15ft fall on the first day of his holidays in Wales.

Liam Lewry, 23, was hiking in the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) with his partner and her parents when just 30 minutes into the walk he fell 15 feet onto sharp rocks below.

Liam suffered a broken neck and back, a fractured skull, and internal bleeding and brain swelling.

As a result, he has been told he will unlikely walk again and there are fears he won't be able to return to his career as an electrician.

The family were doing the Four Waterfalls walk between Pontneddfechan and Ystradfellte in June earlier this year when the life-altering accident happened.

Liam's partner Megan Tooth, who lives with Liam in Sussex, has now described the moment she watched on while he lay bleeding and unconscious.Megan said: "You almost can’t believe it, I still can’t really believe it myself to be honest. It’s one of those things that nobody really goes through normally, it’s awful, it’s really awful.

"Still to this day, I wake up and I don’t think it’s happened."

Two air ambulances transported Liam to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff where he underwent lifesaving surgery before being placed into an induced coma.

When he eventually woke a few days later, his severe head trauma caused post-traumatic amnesia.

As a result, Liam initially struggled to remember who Megan was, despite the pair having been in a relationship since they were 15.

The pair were doing the Four Waterfalls walk between Pontneddfechan and Ystradfellte when Liam suffered the life-altering fall. Credit: Media Wales

It wasn't until Liam was transferred to a hospital in Brighton near to the pair's home that his memories started to return around a month after the accident.

Over two months on, he is being treated at a hospital and undergoing physiotherapy.

Megan said that despite being told that Liam has suffered a complete spinal cord injury, he is starting to regain slight sensations where doctors said there would be none.She said that the pair had planned to "see the world side by side".She said: "Our lives seemed to stretch out before us, full of possibility. Now, in an instant, it has all been ripped away."

While there is a long road to recovery, Megan says Liam is "determined" to walk again despite his current prognosis. Credit: Media Wales

Megan continued: "He’s just finished his course to become an electrician, it feels like everything was going right, but if he is going to be in a wheelchair he’s not going to be able to go back to that and he is self-employed." She said that due to Liam defying the odds at every stage they are now fundraising for alternative treatments not available on the NHS, some of which include an electrical epidural, stem cell injections, and also specialised rehab.

"I cling to the hope that Liam will walk again... My heart breaks again every time I remember our envisioned life together. It's devastating beyond words," she said.

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