Alan Hepworth was left paralysed and with numerous broken bones after an accident 15 years ago.

It ended his career as a mine explosives expert. But he's bounced back and now he walks 50 miles a week, lifts 80 kilo weights at a Hartlepool gym and does volunteer work.

CHRIS CORDNER met him.

IT was 1993 when Alan Hepworth's life changed forever.

He was on his way home to Trimdon Village from work at a private mine in Willington, County Durham.

He was involved in a head-on collision with another vehicle. His injuries were devastating.

He had compound fractures of both ankles and his kneecap had detached. "It must have been when it hit the dashboard," said Alan, 65.

His jaw was fractured in two places and a two centimetre piece of jawbone broke off. He was paralysed down his right hand side for two days and could not move his arm or leg.

His face is still frozen on that same side 15 years later. He went through a psychological hell for seven years after the accident.

He told Mail2: "I could have lost my family. I had paranoia. I thought people were talking about me. I just wasn't the same person."

The road to recovery was a slow one.

"Gradually, I went to see psychologists. That was good to sit down and talk to them and work my way through it."

Just as important though was father-of-four Alan's own fighting spirit and his belief in God.

"I never stopped," he said. "I kept on pottering. I kept on working in my garden and I never gave in."

Alan praised his wife Margaret, 64, for "letting me get on with things. She is one special person," he said.

And then there's God. "I am a big believer," says the Trimdon Village pensioner.

"I used to pray for piece of mind when I had the accident. I just wanted to get up on a morning and feel well.

"Once I started to feel like that, I started to like myself and like other people.

"Religion still has its place. We are Catholics and we never miss church on a Sunday."

Alan's job as an mine explosives expert took him to places such as Egypt and Algeria. The crash changed everything . He could never work again but it never broke him completely.

His list of hobbies and interests is remarkable.

After the accident, and as soon as he could rebuild his life, he began showing dogs in shows across the country and even became a competition judge.

"I got a Great Dane and from then on, I was hooked on shows." He's won prizes. But more importantly, he says, "I got to meet lots of lovely people."

He is a first class painter and uses pastels to capture everything from his beloved canines to John Lennon.

"I was crackers on art when I was at school," he says.

"The teacher used to send me round the classes with my paintings saying 'go and show that to the other teachers.'"

His love of art diminished for decades when he asked a teacher if there was any chance of him going to art college. "The teacher's words are still in there," he says as he points to his head.

"He said 'don't be stupid boy. Go back to your class.'"

Alan's love of art became an ember which was only rekindled after the accident. It's now a brightly burning passion.

He's now painted 200 pastel drawings and is hoping to sell his works.
Then there's his love of the gym. "I go three times a week," said Alan, who is a distant relation of Hartlepool gym owner Eddie Ellwood.

"I am lifting 80 kilos on the bars and pulling 75 kilos on the rowing machine."

He walks 50 miles a week with his canine friend Barney and says: "I like to keep myself in shape. I look at a lot of people my age and think I don't want to go down that road.

"I have seven grandchildren. It is nice to be able to play with them and be active."

Weights, walking, painting. Some might think all that is enough for one person.

But Alan's day also includes his love of geneaology. He has traced his family roots to 1575 and found out his ancestors were yeomen and tax collectors.

One branch of the Hepworths lived in a 13th Century chapel which was used by the Knights Templar. The family name is mentioned in the Domesday Book.

His research has given him links to Hepworths in Australia. It's a fascinating topic for a fascinating man.

It still doesn't end there. Alan finds time to volunteer at his local church St William's,

"I'll do anything in the church," he says. "It the painting or the garden needs doing, I'll have the job done."

The Trimdon pensioner's pastel drawings are available for sale. Anyone who fancies buying his work can contact him on (01429) 881805.