Dairy farmer Matthew Brown was patching up damage on a roof with his 18-year-old son in January 2015.

He was hit by a purlin and fell seven feet onto the concrete below, fracturing two vertebrae and putting him out of action for six months.

“I found myself sitting against the wall, with my son watching on. I started to assess what I could and couldn’t move. I had shooting pain down my back and could move my left side, but could barely move my right arm.

“Not trying to get up or moving probably saved further damage.”

He lost the use of two of his arm muscles and is receiving physiotherapy for his shoulder pain more than two years after the accident.

“The impact of an accident on those around you can sometimes be underestimated. My son was there when the accident happened.

“Unbeknown to me he struggled to sleep afterwards and it hit him hard.

“The annoying thing is that I have a specific bucket, that has been modified to make working on heights safer, but I didn’t use it on this occasion.

“Since the accident, if I’m working at heights I use a snap safety line and carry out a risk assessment.”