When I was in the spinal unit in Sheffield following my accident, the guy in the bed opposite me was called Tim Ellison. He was injured after his Harrier jet lost power during a hover, and crashed to the ground.

The following was published later, and may give you a few ideas about flying.

Tim Ellison, British Disabled Flying Club

Disabled pilots in the UK have greater access to the skies than anywhere else in Europe, thanks to years of campaigning by the British Disabled Flying Club, Co-founder Tim Ellison told us why being able to fly is so important.

In the history of human flight Tim Ellison is not likely to find his name in many record books; yet, not only is he the first paraplegic in the world to gain an Airline Transport Pilots Licence, Tim is also the first disabled person to fly around the world. As co-founder of the British Disabled Flying Club, the Yorkshire-born flyer has personally helped open up the skies to disabled people who don’t just want to be passengers.

Tim has always been interested in flying; indeed, it could be said to be in the blood. He told us: "My dad was a glider pilot, and a keen aviator. I guess I picked it up from him; I started flying in gliders as a little boy."

All things considered, then, his subsequent choice of career was not that surprising; in his early twenties, he joined the Royal Air Force to become a pilot. "Flying training takes about four years. Your particular aptitudes are appraised as you go, and you get streamed to the appropriate aeroplane for your ability." Tim's own abilities led him to the acclaimed ranks of the RAF's world-famous Harrier Jets, the only aircraft in the world that can hover and take-off / land vertically.

His RAF career was cut short, however, when engine failure at 120ft during a hover manoeuvre left him paralysed from the waist down. It goes without saying that such an event is life-changing; yet, Tim insists that he never once seriously considered that his flying career was over. " Physically, I didn’t see any reason why I shouldn’t carry on flying at all - it was never really an issue, personally. All I really knew - all I was trained to do, and what I was best at - was flying. It was never a question for me; I had to find a way to carry on flying, simply so I could have a job."

Unfortunately, in 1992, there was one simple barrier to him earning a living as a pilot; the CAA. "The legislation wasn’t in place to allow a paraplegic to carry on flying in the UK. It was a legislative or bureaucratic barrier; the "powers that be" regarded paraplegia as a physical barrier to flying. I didn’t, so I looked for a country which had a more liberal attitude and that country was America, where I could fly - even commercially - and earn a living again."

Tim, and his family moved to America for three years, where he quickly gained a Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) flying licence and worked as both a charter pilot and a fire-fighting pilot on the water bombers. Despite this being "bloody good fun", the time came for him to return to the UK, where the main challenge became changing the rules.

This was largely done through the British Disabled Flying Club (BDFC), which he helped found in 1993, a year after his accident, and helped resurrect on his return from the States. From the start the BDFC targeted three areas; the bureaucracy preventing disabled people from flying, the development of physical adaptations to aircraft, and the setting up of proper training facilities.

On some fronts at least, progress has now been made in the last few years. Tim told us: "The bureaucratic issues have all been resolved; by example, I was able to show that a paraplegic can fly quite safely. The rules were changed initially to allow us all to have unrestricted private flying licences, but after a year of arguments and letters the authorities backed down and found a way round the rules and made an exception for my commercial licence. Don’t get me wrong, they were quite supportive; they just didn’t know how to overcome their own legislation!

"A year after I got a UK commercial licence, and after a few more letters and correspondence, they decided that they could make that exemption for everyone. Now anyone who’s disabled - provided they’re medically fit to fly, which most of us are - can hold an unrestricted commercial licence and earn a living from flying."

With the legal barrier broken, and a growing range of hand control systems now available that fit straight into most general aviation aeroplanes, the BDFC's final "big issue" is to establish a sufficiently large infrastructure to ensure that disabled people who want a flying licence can gain one. The recent donation of four Bulldog aircraft by the Jordanian Royal Family has been a significant step towards the creation of a not-for-profit flying school at the BDFC base at Biggin Hill, but Tim knows only too well how far they still have to go.

"We've got the planes; we're now desperately trying to raise funds to get them serviceable, on the British Register and adapted so we can start using them to teach disabled people. In the short-term, we need to raise £50,000.

For a variety of reasons Tim is not currently working as a pilot, instead earning his living as a "property developer" - completing barn conversions, and the like. His commitment to flying, however, is undimmed. "Unless you've experienced it, you just don’t realise the sense of freedom you get from flying. It's good for the spirit.

"Not only that, because we got the rules changed, you can make a living from flying, you can have a career in flying, and that’s what I want to see people doing in the UK.

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The British Disabled Flying Club (BDFC) ( http://www.bdfa.net/ ) is based at Biggin Hill in Kent, and currently has around 200 members. Many of these have gained flying experience through the "Flying Scholarships for the Disabled" awarded by the Royal International Air Tattoo and sponsored by a range of organisations and individuals including the Jordanian Royal Family, who recently gifted the charity four surplus Bulldog aircraft.