A WELSHPOOL farmer will feature in a gripping documentary about a hospital’s major trauma centre on Thursday (October 22.

In the fifth episode charting the life and death decisions of the clinical teams at University Hospitals of North Midlands, farmer Chris Jones is flown to the Royal Stoke University Hospital by air ambulance after being hit by a lorry while stopping a cow running into the A5 in Welshpool.

Today the 55-year-old said there would be nowhere he would want to be treated in the UK after emergency teams battled to establish the extent of his injuries.

He said: “It was the most horrific day and was torrential rain and one of the cows got out. I could see the lorry coming and just wanted to get it out of the way.

“I managed it but then jumped on the quad bike to move out of the way but because it was so wet it just kept spinning and I was hit by the lorry.”

Chris was knocked out following the impact with the lorry and suffered injuries to both sides of his head and a collapsed lung. He added: “Once I was in hospital I was quite frightened about not being able to breathe but once my lung was inflated again, I felt much better.

“The care was fantastic from everyone and there is absolutely nowhere in the country you would want to go or need to be if you are involved in any kind of accident.”

The keen motorcyclist has not let the accident stop him and he still regularly goes out on his motorbike as well as using the quad bike when he’s out in the fields.

“I really believe that when your time is up, your time is up and people have got off a lot worse than me in much smaller accidents,” he said. “I was exceptionally lucky and have to look on the bright side because I am still here.”

As a specialist major trauma centre, the Royal Stoke treats patients from across rural Mid and North Wales and Thursday’s episode also features a patient who has been trampled by a cow.

Chris' story will feature in the Channel 5 show 999 Critical Condition, showing on Thursday at 9pm.