A STEEL erector who severed his spinal cord in a 40ft fall from scaffolding today vowed he would not give up his fight to walk again.

Jason Bruce, of Anglesey Avenue, Burnley, fell from a beam as he worked on the site of a new Sainsbury's store, in Waltham Abbey, Middlesex, in February.

He was airlifted to a local hospital where he had an operation on his spine. He was later transferred to the specialist Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, in Stannmore, where he is currently recovering in a spinal unit. Doctors have told the family that he only has a 10 per cent chance of walking again.

Speaking for the first time about the incident -- which is currently being investigated by the Health and Safety Executive -- the 30-year-old admitted he faced an uphill struggle to walk again. And he paid tribute to the dedication of his family and friends who travelled from East Lancashire to be by his bedside.

Jason said: "Sometimes I feel all right and sometimes I'm a bit down. I'm in a wheelchair at the moment but I'll keep trying. You cannot give up hope."

Jason said he did not remember the fall which severed his spinal cord. He is undergoing physiotherapy at the hospital but said it was a long and painful process.

He said the support of his friends and family was getting him through it.

He said: "My mum and dad come down at the weekend. My brothers Damian and Tony and sister Nicola all come down to see me which helps me through it."

The keen Rovers fan, who works all over the country and was working for Steel Craft, of Thirsk, at the time of the incident, had a boost recently when he was handed a Blackburn Rovers shirt signed by all of the players.

He said: "I don't get to see them play that much because I work away a lot. I saw the Worthington Cup Final on TV and thought it was a brilliant match. I was really pleased when I got the shirt."

At the time of the accident his mother Christine Margerison spoke about what the future will hold for both Jason and his younger brother Damian, 24, who also works in the steel erecting business.

She said it was "every mother's nightmare" to have a son injured this way and feared that he would die when she first saw him.

She said Jason would probably never work again and revealed she had asked Damian to find a job in a different industry.

The family are now having to look for a house which will be suitable to accommodate a wheelchair, when Jason is finally allowed home.