A DIVER today relived the moment he hurt his back while working in the middle of the River Irwell and said: "I thought I was going to be paralysed."
Today, Stuart Johnston, 30, from Oswaldtwistle, was recovering at his home with his nurse girlfriend Joanne after being allowed home from Bury General Hospital.
Specialist rope rescuers were brought in to lift Stuart from the Irwell at Rawtenstall after he slipped a disc in his back while helping repair the concrete part of a weir near Bocholt Way in the town.
Some 30 fire officers, including the rope rescue crew based at Lytham, were drafted in, drawing a crowd of around 60 people.
But Stuart said: "I was totally unaware of anything other than what was going on in the water.
"We working on the weir behind the water when I felt this excruciating pain. I just couldn't move. I thought I had become paralysed.
"Every crew working in the water has a first aider but, unfortunately, I was it.
"It took about two hours for them to get me out of the water but they were brilliant. I was very cold but I didn't panic."
The former armed forces member added: "The camaraderie between dive crews is second to none and it wasn't any different in this case. "In this line of work you expect the worst and are prepared for it."
Stuart was working as part of a team for Newtec Diving Services, based in Blackpool, who had secured the contract to sort out parts of the River Irwell for Lancashire County Council.
Firefighters put safety ropes downstream across the river to make sure anyone who fell during the rescue operation would be safe.
Stuart was put on to a spinal board and then into a basket stretcher before being hauled to the side by ropes.
Men were on either side up two ladders which formed a ramp.
Stuart's boss, Mark New, said: "The nurse said he had enough morphine to put an elephant to sleep.
"He could have done the injury just as easily picking something up in the street."
Stuart added: "The doctors have told me to walk about as much as I can. I think my muscles were a bit relaxed after Christmas but I have another job next week on a salvage job in Scotland which I am determined to be ready for."
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