A PARALYSED Warminster woman has accepted a cheque on behalf of a spinal injury unit from a crash survivor who broke his neck in a motorcycle accident.

Garage owner Andy Downes has pledged to donate 10 per cent of labour earnings from car accident repairs after he was almost killed in a speedway crash in August last year.

Victoria Holton, of Warminster, who was paralysed in a parachuting accident in 2002, is one of the driving forces behind raising money for the Southern Spinal Injuries Unit based at Salisbury Hospital.

She collected a cheque for £50 on the unit's behalf earlier this month.

Mr Downes, who runs Bodytech Services in Salisbury, was airlifted from the Isle of Wight in August when he broke his neck and was temporarily paralysed after his speedway bike crashed at high speed.

He said: "I'm very, very lucky, but when you meet Vicky you take on a completely different view of the degree of luck.

"It was touch and go for me for a while, and being paralysed was the most terrifying thing I have ever experienced. I'm just glad to be alive."

Ms Holton travelled to Devizes for the presentation on June 13 that also included donations to Wiltshire Air Ambulance and the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance Service.

Ms Holton said: "The on-going support of Andy Downes and Bodytech Services is so very valuable to SSIT.

"People who live with permanent paralysis as a result of spinal cord injury can find important specialist equipment financially out of reach and SSIT aims to provide it so they can improve their quality of life and participate in society more fully again."

Mr Downes said his donations are to pay a debt of gratitude to the first-aiders, air ambulance paramedics, nurses, doctors and specialists who treated him for a broken neck, shoulder, ribs and a punctured lung.

He is now back on his feet at his vehicle repair and autoservice operation in Netherhampton and for the next 12 months, all private car crash repairs with labour costs of more than £500 will generate a £50 donation while repairs costing £250 or more will add a further £25 each.

Mr Downes estimates he has about six car repairs each month which he hopes will generate about 72 donations in a year, or £1,200 to each charity.