BURLY Bob Cox has told how his beer belly saved his life when he fell from a ladder on to a wooden spike.

The 18-stone father crashed through a wooden rung and was impaled on one of the ladder's legs.

Horrifying X-rays show 2ft of the 4ft leg inside him.

Doctors said he would almost certainly have died if it had not been for his stomach protecting his internal organs.

The former colliery fitter, 54, of Cramlington, Northumberland, had climbed on the old stepladder to get a box from the loft.

It collapsed and, to the horror of his wife, Susan, who was helping him, he fell on to the leg.

Paramedics were at his side within minutes and two fire crews cut away part of the wood.

He was then taken to hospital for a two-hour operation.

Mr Cox, who was in hospital for six days, said: "I put my foot on the top bit of the stepladder and it went straight through the middle. That's the last I can remember. I was suffering terrible back pain, but I did not realise I had been impaled.

"I had a 2in by 1in piece of wood about 2ft long inside the full length of my side. The only thing the surgeon could say was in my defence was being fat. It saved my life."