A Selby rail crash survivor who feared he would be wheelchair-bound for life walked down the aisle with his bride yesterday.

Train steward Thomas Kaplanis feared he would never walk again after the devastating crash which left him with a broken back.

But, thanks to the love of his fiancee, Marie Estrada, the 32-year-old has battled against his injuries.

Thomas said: "I lost a lot of good friends in the crash. I thank God I'm alive but I still have nightmares and flashbacks.

"That's why my wedding day is so special. I didn't know whether I would live to see it."

Staff nurse Marie, 29, agreed to marry Thomas last Christmas after a whirlwind romance but was left devastated by the Selby disaster.

Marie, from Newcastle, had been visiting relatives in the Philippines when she heard about the crash in February.

She said: "I was frantic. I couldn't speak to Thomas because he was unconscious and I couldn't get a flight for two days. The possibility of losing him would have killed me.

"When I saw him I asked if he wanted to postpone the wedding. He said 'no'. But I would have got married at his bedside if necessary."

Thomas, originally from Greece, was working as a waiter on the GNER express from Newcastle to London when it derailed and collided with a goods train, killing ten people.

"From the moment we derailed to the point when we crashed was 25 seconds - and it was the longest 25 seconds of my life," said Thomas, who now walks with a stick.

"It was all in slow-motion. I thought, 'This is it. I'm going to die'. I was just praying.

"When the train stopped, my first thought was to get out and try to help other people. I managed to get into the field but I didn't realise my back was broken."

He said after the wedding ceremony at St Andrew's Church in Newcastle City Centre: "It's the happiest day of my life."