After suffering serious injuries from falling from a roof, one man has shared his tale of rehabilitation – in his very own book.

Boat-maker Martin Norris has built and restored more than 10 boats throughout the past 40 years. But in 2014, the 66-year-old suffered serious injuries after falling while cleaning out the gutters, putting his life on hold.

“A neighbour had seen me fall and called the ambulance, but when they arrived they wouldn’t move me” he said.

“I remember repeated injections of morphine and an air ambulance helicopter from the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) being summoned to airlift me to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.”

Once there, an MRI showed the Cockermouth man had a broken back, crushed vertebrae, collapsed lung and head injury, as well as his pelvis being broken in three places, and his left-side ribs had been cracked.

After months of lying in bed, Martin was able to begin going to the gym and for swims to help with his recovery, and started work on his 15th vessel, Pilgrimage.

“I found being in the water helped so I would go swimming and then build the boat in the afternoon,” he said.

“Building the boat in the aftermath of my accident, which could have been the end of me, has undoubtedly been a journey and can also be seen as a sort of pilgrimage – one where I give thanks for being still alive.

“I believe that hard though the building process has been, through it I have grown stronger both mentally and physically and pushed away the disability status I could have accepted.”

And now the boat-maker has become an author, publishing a book about his rehabilitation, and just how much his latest creation, known as a Yachting Monthly Senior, helped – donating every penny from the sales to GNAAS.

He said: “I compare my book to the way Viking sagas were told – I want to tell my tale of what happened so people don’t forget it.

"My book mentions all the experiences I have had that led to me building this boat, as well as the long battle to build it.”

He added: "I just wanted to tell my tale so that’s why I don’t want a penny from it.

"The air ambulance team saved my life. If they hadn’t airlifted me over to hospital I would have snuffed it.”

Martin's book, 'Pilgrim’s (Surprisingly Slow) Progress', is available at Thornthwaite Galleries near Keswick, and Percy House Gallery and Wild Zucchinis café, both in Cockermouth.

For more information on GNAAS, and details on how you can support the team, visit www.gnaas.com or call 01325 487263.