AN ADVENTURE loving Teesside man is rediscovering his favourite hobbies after a freak accident left him paralysed from the chest down.

Sean Rose, 29, of Redcar, was working as a ski instructor at the RAF's winter survival school in Bavaria, Germany, in February last year when he fell and was thrown out of his skis.

"I knew immediately I was paralysed - I just thought these legs aren't mine, they don't belong to me."

Sean had crushed two of the vertebrae in his back. He was rushed to the local hospital and immediately transferred to a trauma centre at Mernau Hospital.

He spent the next four months there undergoing surgery and treatment before he was transferred to a specialist spinal injuries unit in Sheffield for three months of intensive physiotherapy.

He returned to his parents' home in Sandpiper Close, Redcar, two months ago.

Now, Sean says he can stand and walk, although he still has problems with his right leg.

But more importantly to him, he has started to become involved in the activities that formed such an important part of his life before the accident, including sailing.

Sean plans to go skiing again with the Back Up Trust, a charity that specialises in adventure training courses for people with spinal injuries.

At Christmas, Sean roped some friends in to take part in the Boxing Day dip at Redcar and together they raised £600 for the Back Up Trust.

"I have done it four times previously but I wanted to do it in a wheelchair to prove it could be done," he said.

Anyone wishing to donate to the Back Up Trust can contact the group on (020) 88751805.