A kayaker has visited Dart RNLI to thanks the volunteers who saved his life following a fall that broke his neck and his back.

Neil Bascombe was on the first full day of his family holiday to Kingsbridge in June last year and exploring the coves around Blackpool Sands near Dartmouth when he decided to take a break and ring his son Jason, who was on a nearby beach.

He paddled his kayak between two rocks to moor but after climbing out he slipped and fell, fracturing his spine and neck, and suffering concussion after hitting his head.

Neil and his wife Jackie, from Poole, made a special trip to meet the crew and pass on his gratitude on Saturday (August 23), just a few days after the rescue featured on the BBC show Saving Lives at Sea.

“If I hadn't been rescued I wouldn't be here, I would have drowned,’ he said.

“The RNLI were fantastic, and we are both so grateful.

“I don’t remember much of it at all but at first I was upside down with my head in the water and recall telling myself not to breathe in.

“I managed to haul myself on to a flat rock but my phone had gone into the sea. I was in so much pain, and soon very, very cold.”

His son Marcus, who was out on his paddleboard, was out of sight when his father fell, but eventually found him lying on the rocks.

After trying and failing to get him back on the kayak, he moved his father further away from the water and put him in a foetal position.

Marcus then went to alert the rest of the family, who called the Coastguard, and returned with his brother Jason on the front of his paddle board.

Neil said: “A wave covered me and water went in my mouth. I couldn’t wait any longer and said they had to move me now.

“I knew it was going to hurt - and that was before I knew I had broken five vertebrae.”

Dart RNLI’s D Class volunteer lifeboat crew were first on the scene and managed to move Neil on to a stretcher.

He was then transferred to the waiting Atlantic 85 lifeboat and transported to Dartmouth Embankment.

Neil was taken to Torbay Hospital by ambulance and spent a week undergoing treatment and tests. It was only after returning home that further investigations revealed three breaks in his neck and two in his spine.

Neil is still recovering more than a year later, and he and Jackie were delighted to meet up with the crew in Dartmouth.

“We just want to thank everyone from the RNLI and others involved in the rescue,” he added.

Volunteer Rich Eggleton, who helmed the B Class lifeboat during the rescue, said: “It was great for the crew to meet Neil and Jackie as we are always keen to know how a casualty recovers. It was not a straightforward rescue and we are all thrilled that Neil is well on the road to recovery.’”