Owen Paterson: You are in the best place for care, Opik tells broken back MP
Former MP Lembit Opik says Shropshire MP Owen Paterson, who broke his back in a riding accident at the weekend, is in the best possible hospital.
Ex-Montgomeryshire MP Mr Opik found himself in the Midlands Centre for Spinal Injuries at Oswestry's Orthopaedic hospital after an horrific paragliding crash in 1998, when he was 33.
He spent two weeks in the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and four weeks at the spinal centre having broken 12 vertebrae and shattered his ribs, sternum and his jaw. He is still undergoing facial treatment and has difficulty eating anything but soft food.
Mr Opik says the treatment he had in Shropshire was second to none.
"The Royal Shrewsbury Hospital saved my life and the Orthopaedic saved my mobility. It was a back saver," he said.
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He was put into a back brace and had to lie completely still while the vertebrae, which had protected his spinal cord, healed.
"The centre at the Orthopaedic Hospital is the very best in the world. Not everyone that goes in there will walk out but what is guaranteed is that they will do the absolute best that they can for you," he said.
"Owen was injured, like I was, doing something he loved, something that involved a degree of risk and I wish him the best recovery he can possibly have. We were MPs in neighbouring counties and worked together on several issues.
"I would give him this advice. As an MP you spend your life caring for other people. Now you are in hospital you have to let go and let people take care of you - let the dedicated and professional medics look after you.
"Most importantly, do not leave hospital early, do not discharge yourself. Believe me, they do not want you in hospital longer than absolutely necessary. Take their advice now and it will help you for the rest of your life. If they say four weeks, stay for weeks, if they say 20 then stay 20."
Mr Paterson, a former Northern Ireland and Environment minister, is still working from his hospital bed.
An accomplished rider, the MP has said it was ironic that he was now a patient in the unit that he and his wife Rose raised £60,000 for by completing the toughest horse race in the world, the Mongol Derby.
In February 2004 while the Environment Secretary he had to have emergency surgery for a detached retina and was told he could lose the sight in one eye.
