DJ says he's 'lucky to be alive' after 'sleepwalking' off hotel balcony
A DJ who suffered horrific injuries after "sleepwalking" off a balcony 80 feet up while on holiday said he is "lucky to be alive" after waking from a coma.
Dad-of-two Paul Cartwright suffered 28 broken bones after plunging four storeys from his hotel room in Malta where he was celebrating his 45th birthday with his girlfriend.
Paul's last memory was, "having a good read" and smoking a cigarette on the balcony before plummeting onto the concrete four storeys below.
His fall left him with a fractured neck, a smashed pelvis, a broken femur and foot as well as internal bleeding and cracked ribs.
Racked up air ambulance bill
Paul, a DJ on London-based radio station MuusicFM , said his girlfriend Danielle Hickey found him after getting up in the middle of the night.
He spent two-and-a-half weeks in an induced coma after his fall in August.
Paul was finally airlifted from Malta back to to Biggin Hill airport last Saturday, racking up an air ambulance bill of more than £20,000 on the way.
Speaking from his bed at Kings College Hospital, London, Paul said his ambition is to learn how to walk again unaided - and he has started a fundraiser to help with rehabilitation costs.
"I'm alive to be a dad to my beautiful daughters"
He said: "I was having a good read and that's all I can remember.
"I was out on holiday with the love of my life and bosh - it could happen to anybody.
"I'm lucky to be alive."
Paul believes his history of sleepwalking caused the freak accident.
The dad of twin girls, who turned 10 on the day he landed back in the UK, said he was not drunk and would not self-harm.
He said: "I love my girls. I'm happy - I'm alive to be a dad to my beautiful daughters.
"They have been my guiding light through this.
Paul, of Downham, south east London, has been unable to walk since the accident, and will spend the next five or six weeks in hospital.
