A lad’s holiday to Benidorm ended in horror when a dad broke his neck and back after being shoved into a shallow pool ‘as a joke’.
Martin Bullen, 31, was at a pool party on June 10 when he claims a stranger came up and playfully pushed him into the water.
But he had no idea how shallow the water was, so when he tried to dive in, he ended up splitting his head open on the bottom.
Luckily, one of the worried partygoers who helped get him out happened to be an army medic and knew to keep him still until an ambulance arrived.
Martin, who works as a sales advisor, was then taken to a nearby hospital where he got 16 stitches for his head wound and was told he had fractured his neck in three places and broken his back.
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He said: ‘I was having a drink, but I had my wits about me and stuff. Somebody pushed me into the pool, and I didn’t know it was a shallow pool.
‘I’m thinking I’ll just dive in and dive back up and my head hit the floor straight away and it split open my head.
‘It was quite scary. I’ll be honest, there was at one point I thought I was going to die on my own [in hospital] because I didn’t know what was going on or who to talk to.’
Martin, from Wigan, Greater Manchester, added: ‘I can see how it could be portrayed dead easily as a boozy Brit in Benidorm who has done this but to be honest with you, I wasn’t drunk.
‘It was a freak accident because I didn’t know the pool was shallow.
‘I’m a full-time dad and I try and work my hardest and try and bring them up the best I can do. I’m not one of those idiots – I have a lot of responsibilities, and I take pride in them.’
He explained that the trip to Benidorm with his cousins was meant to be a break from being a busy single dad.
The blow which perhaps hurt the most though, was a ‘stupid’ mistake he made when finalising the trip – he forgot to book travel insurance.
‘It was a moment of madness [not to take out insurance],’ Martin said.
‘I was looking at getting it, I put it in the WhatsApp group for my cousins to get it and as I went to do mine something came up with the kids.
‘Then it just slipped my mind and then I forgot all about it and didn’t get it done. It was a daft mistake. I knew I needed to get it.
‘I think one of the kids hurt themself outside or something and I rushed out to sort it and then I got back and got distracted.
‘Failure to prepare is preparing to fail, that’s the best thing I could say.’
Thankfully Martin was able to fly home on June 16 and said doctors at the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in Wigan have found five fractures in his neck and back.
He said he still needs to wear a neck brace and can only walk or stand for about five minutes before he needs to sit down.
He is awaiting further scans to find out the extent of the damage and what his recovery will be like.
His dad, Scott Bullen, 63, flew out to be with him in hospital and was luckily able to help him with hospital costs but now Martin is raising money to be able to pay his dad back.
Martin said: ‘I’ve got two boys full time on my own, luckily my dad helped me with upfront costs, which I’ve got to pay back because he’s retired.
‘I know it’s going to be a long road to recovery, but I’ve got through the hard part, which was getting home and being around people who can support me.’
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