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The Courier ran this story on PB yesterday Gyroplane crash victim"s survival story and road to recoveryBY FIONA CARTLEDGE3/09/2008 12:30:00 AMPAUL Bruty can"t remember much about the gyroplane crash that nearly killed him. He can remember holding his breath and rolling around on fire for about 20 seconds, and then the next two months are a blur. Paul, a flight instructor from Warrenheip, was a passenger in a gyroplane flown by a 50-year-old Hoppers Crossing man when it crashed near Echuca on November 8 last year. The accident claimed the pilot"s life but Paul said he owes his life to The Alfred Hospital"s trauma team. "They saved me, I should have died," Paul said yesterday. After being rushed to the Echuca Hospital, Paul was airlifted to The Alfred, where he spent two months in intensive care with burns to 50 per cent of his body and two crushed vertebrae. He endured almost daily operations but, thankfully, Paul was in an induced coma virtually the whole time. "Apparently I poked my tongue out at a nurse but I can"t remember it," he laughed. When he had the accident Paul was wearing a polyester shirt, causing his torso to be badly burnt. However, his cotton drill trousers saved his legs, allowing them to be used for his numerous skin grafts. "I look like a patchwork quilt from the waist down." Paul"s initial time in hospital may have passed in a blur for him, but it was an incredibly traumatic time for his wife Eril, and children Mark, Matthew, Alex and Emma. "At first it didn"t sound all that serious," Eril said of getting the phone call from the Echuca Hospital. Paul had told a nurse Eril"s mobile number before blacking out, so Eril thought he must have been alright. It was only when son Mark rushed her down to Melbourne that reality sunk in. Eril, who works at Haymes Paints, said she wouldn"t have got through it without enormous family support _ "And the fact I worked for a family company really came home." She also said The Alfred Hospital was "brilliant". On New Year"s Eve, after two months in ICU, Paul was transferred to the burns unit where he underwent 40 hyperbaric chamber treatments to heal a hole "the size of a cricket ball" over his spine. During his five-month stay, Paul underwent more skin grafts and had his right ear rebuilt. He also suffered from both pneumonia and meningitis. Regular physiotherapy and occupational therapy were a big part of his recovery. Paul, a diabetic of 30 years, believes his healthy diet also stood him in good stead. On June 1, Paul returned to Ballarat Health Services rehabilitation unit for two weeks, and then did three weeks of the Rehab in the Home program. He is now _ very proudly _ a rehabilitation outpatient.