Death-defying pilot will try to fly again

Jan 5 2008 by Ben Guy, The Journal

THE wife of a pilot seriously injured in a microlight aircraft crash has spoken of the shock caused by his second serious accident in two years.

Jim Martin, 49, fractured his skull, a shoulder, both legs and suffered facial injuries when the aircraft he was flying crashed near Burgham Park Golf and Leisure Club at Felton in Northumberland on Sunday.

His close friend Jon Ker was also badly hurt. It is the second time in two years the pair, both crew members of the Great North Air Ambulance, have been in a serious accident, with Jon saving Jim’s life after a fall on Ben Nevis in January 2006.

At home in Hexham yesterday Margaret Martin, a nurse at St Oswald’s Hospice in Gosforth, described the disbelief she felt when she heard her husband had been in another serious accident.

She said: “It is unbelievable and doesn’t make sense. I cannot find the words to explain what it felt like.

“You just think, ‘This can’t be happening’, but you know that it is. My first concern was his survival and Jon’s survival.

“I had been working the night shift and when I first heard there had been an accident I thought it was a car accident.

“I hadn’t known he was planning to fly, so when I found out that they had crashed in a light aircraft I thought he must be dead.”

The two were flown to Newcastle General Hospital, and Mrs Martin said that despite her profession it was difficult seeing her husband so badly injured.

She said: “Because I am a nurse I had prepared myself for some of the injuries. But it was hard seeing my husband in that face, because it wasn’t him.”

Mr Martin, of Shaws Park, Hexham, was in a critical condition earlier this week, but has started to make progress. He is awake and talking, although heavily sedated.

His wife said: “The first thing is that I am absolutely thrilled that he has got this far. He must be incredibly tough.

“He is very strong and determined and he is surprisingly well, considering. He had recovered remarkably well from the first accident, which was two years ago this month. For it to happen again is unbelievable.”

Mr Martin has already undergone an 11-hour operation on his legs and faces two other major operations in a hospital stay that is likely to last months.

In 1988, Mr Martin survived a helicopter crash at the Hanover air show in West Germany.

He was given the all-clear to return to flying a year ago after recovering from his mountain fall.

But Mrs Martin, who praised the support she has received from friends and family, believes her husband will be determined to do everything possible to fly again.

She said: “He did everything in his power to recover last time and he will do the same again. He loves flying, and doesn’t just do it as a job – it is for enjoyment.”

Mr Ker, who is also in Newcastle General, was poorly but stable last night.