Robotic legs hope for injured worker treated at Shropshire hospital

Daniel Edwards, 25, enjoyed an active life. He played football and remains an avid motorcycle enthusiast.

But he was left paralysed from the waist down after an horrific workplace accident left him badly injured.

Mr Edwards’ life was transformed just three days before Christmas in 2016.

He was working for Mercian Recycling Limited in Birmingham when a fall resulted in a crushed vertebra.

He has been left in a wheelchair and unable to walk as a paraplegic.

The company admitted a breach of Health and Safety Regulations at an earlier hearing.

It has been fined £80,000 following a case brought before by Birmingham Magistrates.

Mr Edwards was working with a recycling team removing items from a conveyor belt.

When it stopped, he started to clear the obstruction but the conveyor belt was accidentally switched on and he was badly injured.

He was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham for emergency treatment immediately after the accident.

Once his condition had stabilised, he was moved to the special spinal injuries unit at Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Oswestry, where he underwent additional treatment and extensive physiotherapy. Now back home, Daniel is facing up to the challenges presented in every day living.

He has a conventional wheelchair and there have been limited modifications to the home where he lives with his parents in Kings Norton, Birmingham.

He is also receiving extra ongoing physiotherapy and psychological support.

Now specialists at Levenes Solicitors, a specialist in personal injuries claims, are helping Mr Edwards get the support he needs to make the best of his life.

Tim Beasley, of Levenes, said there should have been measures in place to prevent such an incident happening.

He said: “We cannot change what has happened but we can do all we can to give Daniel the best possible future after these life-changing injuries.”

Mr Edwards currently lives at home with his mother, Kath, 59, and father, Mark, 55, who also worked at Mercia Recycling and were on site when the accident happened.

“Eventually, Daniel will need a home of his own, which will need to be a specially-converted bungalow,” added Mr Beasley.

He said new technology is being explored to make his life comfortable, adding: “He will need a more advanced wheelchair and a car that has been converted to enable him to drive.

“Unfortunately, Daniel is not expected to walk normally again but we are hoping that robotic legs will give him some mobility.”

Mr Edwards is still trying to come to terms with what happened to him.

“I plan to go to college and want to help people who have been through the kind of experience I have gone through,” he said.

“Before the accident I was very active and played football two or three times a week. One day I could do everything and the next day nothing.

“However, I have to try to make the best of my life.”

Mr Edwards said his future plans included travelling.

He hopes to eventually visit countries including the likes of Australia and the United States of America.