21 of us going to Magaluf, stag do.
I went outside for a cigarette, nobody was there at the time,
and I toppled off the second-storey balcony.
I honestly thought he had died.
I had a bleed to the brain. I broke every bone in my face.
They wasn't sure whether I was going to make it the whole night.
I was going abroad to Magaluf for my mate's stag do in June.
There was 21 of us going.
It should've been a good weekend.
For him to be on a proper lads' holiday with his mates.
THEY SHOUT
It was all fun and games from the get-go.
Partying.
Drinking.
Pool parties.
We was just chilling by the pool all day, having a few cocktails.
We were playing drinking games
and then we went out on the Magaluf strip, which I can't remember
because of what happened later on that evening.
It's quite a shame, really, that I can't remember the good bits.
I walked back to the hotel with my mate Mike.
He then put me in my room.
From what I can remember, I then went outside for a cigarette.
In seven out of ten balcony falls in 2018,
the victim was on their own when they fell.
Avoid balconies if you've been drinking or taking drugs,
and always try to stick with your mates.
Whilst having a cigarette,
I started throwing up. While throwing up, I jaunted forward.
As I jaunted forward, I toppled off the second-storey balcony.
I was travelling at 34mph from the point that I fell
to the point I hit the ground.
Nobody was there at the time, so once I fell,
it was lucky that the people found me when they did
because God knows what would've happened if they hadn't found me.
Would I have died at the bottom there?
If you find someone who's fallen, call an ambulance immediately.
In Europe, call 112, or 999 in the UK.
One of the main risks from a balcony fall is spinal injury,
so don't let them move from the position they've landed in.
Steady and support their head without moving it to prevent
further damage to the spinal cord.
Kneel down and put your hands either side of their head,
keeping their ears free.
Because of how we was told he had fell
and where he had fell from,
it was a lot for any human being to fall from.
Check their breathing.
Put your ear just above their mouth, looking at their body.
If they're not breathing, put your thumbs on their cheeks
and your fingers under the jaw bone and lift up.
This helps keep their airways open.
Don't tilt their neck.
This could damage their spinal cord.
Look, listen and feel for 10 seconds.
If they're still not breathing, start mouth-to-mouth and CPR.
Don't stop until the paramedics arrive.
When the ambulance service came,
the ambulance team put me straight into an induced coma
on the scene to protect my brain because I had a bleed to the brain.
They told my friends that they wasn't sure
whether I was going to make it the whole night.
They had to ring my family
to get my family out there as soon as they could.
I was talking to him probably six hours before.
To get the call to say he had fell from the balcony, I honestly
thought he had died and we were just going to pick him up
from the hospital.
From the head down, I had a bleed to the brain.
I broke every bone in my face.
I broke my right wrist, broke my right scaphoid.
Shattered my left pelvis completely,
so I've had to have that metal-plated.
I dislocated my left leg to about 3ml of my spinal cord.
Snapped my left kneecap clean in half.
I could see the metal in his mouth. I was wondering what it was.
I just got really emotional seeing him like that.
It was probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to go
through in my life.
I used to give him a kiss off everyone, so he knew that we
were all there supporting him and that he had the love of all of us.
And then I woke up, I think it was about 14 days later, from a coma.
The way I dislocated my leg, it was so close to my spinal cord.
It could have made me disabled for the rest of my life,
and then they was worried that I'd never talk again due to
all the crushness of my face.
To repair it, they went in through the top of my mouth.
They sliced all that open to put the plates here and here.
They went through the bottom of my mouth to re-plate here.
The scar's there.
Then they went in through my right eye socket, where my eye fell out,
to rebuild my right eye socket and my left eye socket.
It's quite crazy to think how they got their hands and machines
in there to rebuild it, but...
Yeah.
It's crazy to think that one Jack went on the plane
and another Jack woke up and flew back.
It just took its toll on everybody, which has been quite hard.
To me, it wasn't safe.
At 5'11 and the balcony's just about reaching your hip,
it could easily happen to anyone.
What I tend to do is look at photos and actually see how far I've come.
I had to stay off my feet for a further eight weeks.
Then I went to semi-weight-bearing, which means you have to walk
with eggshells at the bottom of your feet, so if you put too much
pressure, you've got to picture you crush the eggshell.
You don't realise the little things, like eating for yourself.
At 23 years of age, my dad had to cut my food up.
I think about October 15th, I finally got my teeth,
which was a miracle.
You don't realise how much you need your teeth
until you've actually lost your teeth.
I think it's more mentally now what I have to deal with,
due to not knowing what went on.
I talk to my psychiatrist, whatever you want to call it, and what
you've got to remember is your brain needs time to adjust itself.
It's OK to say you're not OK.
He's just been getting stronger and healthier every day.
To see him walk, to see him talk, to going out with his friends.
To my little boy, he's a superhero.
It's easy to point your fingers at other people, to say,
"Maybe it was the bartender's fault for topping up glasses
"full of alcohol," or it could be one of your mates.
It takes a bigger person to say, "Yeah, I should've stopped
"drinking at a certain time," or, "I should've just gone to bed,"
or I should've had the courage to say,
"Actually, I'll have a few Pepsis, lads, just to balance it out."
I haven't touched a drink, I haven't smoked in a year.
If I had to take the good from this situation, it's turned me
into a better person. I'm thankful for the person that I am today.
Whoever did find me saved my life.
I'm thankful. Thank you.