First time paraglider Roy Dixon tells of flight horror

But as pictures taken by his horrified wife Catherine show, a stray gust of wind sent the thrill-seeker plummeting back to Earth and sparked an expensive helicopter rescue mission.

Roy had made the disastrous decision to use 50-feet of rope to tether the paraglider to his car in the hope it would act as an "anchor" - but that meant he was slammed into the ground rather than being taken by the surprise gust.

However, today Roy is celebrating the news that he will not need surgery for his injuries, despite breaking two vertebrae.

And he has even made it back to work at the Mercy Trucks charity he runs, delivering aid and supplies to disaster zones. Roy, of Juniper, near Hexham, said: "By the grace of God I'm OK and I'm walking again.

"I was expecting to have an operation the day after the accident, but instead they've given me a special brace to wear and I'm healing naturally.

"You think when you hear about someone breaking their back that they won't be able to walk again but with me it was just the vertebrae.

"Well, I say walking but it's more like walking like that character out of the Adams Family, Lurch."

Roy was with his wife and 11-year-old nephew Michael when the drama unfolded on the evening of May 23.

Barely conscious and in terrible pain, he was whisked to Newcastle General Hospital in an RAF Sea King helicopter.

Reliving the moment, he said: "I remember being up there and suddenly going 'whoosh' over to one direction, and then 'wham' straight down to the ground.

"It happened so quickly. I didn't expect to come down as hard as I did.

"I couldn't walk. I was in the foetal position and thrashing around in pain."

Now Roy is on the mend and considering a trip to Sierra Leone with his charity.

He said: "It's a miracle. I'm not lifting things, but I'm literally back at work.

"I've even learned a bit about medical equipment from my time in hospital, which could be of use to Mercy Trucks."

Roy Dixon is taken to hospital after his paragliding accident