Wife's anger at fire starters after Shrewsbury walker is hit by tree

Jon Rixon was airlifted from Haughmond Hill with a broken shoulder and several broken ribs and was today in a stable condition at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

The 62-year-old was taking a Sunday morning stroll when he saw smoke and heard "an almighty crack" before an enormous oak tree fell and struck him to the ground.

Mr Rixon, of Upper Battlefield, managed to crawl out from under the heavy branches where cyclist Richard Pugh discovered him and called the emergency services.

It is thought a fire had been started by campers in the hollow base of the tree in the early hours of Sunday.

Suzi Rixon said her retired RAF officer husband is lucky to be alive and called for action to stop people setting fires in the wood.

She said she would like to see the Forestry Commission, which manages Haughmond Hill, setting up patrols to keep the area safe.

And she said she was "hugely grateful" to Mr Pugh for coming to her husband's aid.

Mrs Rixon said: "Jon has got a broken shoulder and several broken ribs but he is very lucky to be alive.

"The fact that he saw the smoke coming from the tree and he heard this almighty crack he was able to run."

"But with conditions being so muddy he was not able to get away entirely.If he had stayed where he was he might not be here today.

"I am just furious about the irresponsibility of the campers that set fire to the tree. It is just beyond belief. I think people need to be aware of the consequences of such reckless actions. It's shocking. I am so horrified. Setting fire to an enormous oak tree is beyond ridiculous. I am very angry about it.

"I'm so hugely grateful to Richard. He's an absolute star. Lots of people have been ringing up to see how Jon is. He was in a huge amount of pain and he's on morphine and antibiotics to make sure he doesn't get pneumonia."

Mr Pugh, 51, of Redwood Park, Shrewsbury was cycling along the bottom of Haughmond Hill from Uffington when he found Mr Rixon.

He said: "I was two thirds of the way along the path when I came across this guy sat on the side looking distressed. I said are you OK?

"And he said no not really. I asked what happened he said this tree has just fallen on top of me.

"He said as he heard a crack he ran a little bit but it had pummelled him into the floor. He said he had managed to crawl out from underneath.

"Another lady turned up and she had been not far away when it had happened so she had seen the aftermath.

"It was evident he was in quite a lot of pain and he was going into shock as he was going whiter. We quickly realised we weren't going to be able to get him to the road and eventually an air ambulance was called.

"In the meantime the tree was roaring away." It was the biggest tree – around about 80ft tall and about 14ft across at some points."