AN EYNESBURY postal worker who suffered crippling injuries in a freak accident while at work has received over half a million pounds in compensation.

Parcelforce courier Andrew Hutcheson was leaning inside his van to pick up some parcels for delivery in Saltersgate, Peterborough, on November 28 last year, when a car crashed into him from behind, crushing his legs.

The 59-year-old was rushed to Peterborough City Hospital where he had a 10-hour operation, which he said “saved my legs and saved my life”.

From there he was transferred to Addenbrooke’s Hospital where, over the course of three months, surgeons tried to repair his shattered shins and rebuild his legs by inserting metal pins.

Mr Hutcheson told The Hunts Post: “One minute I was standing up and the next all I can remember is being surrounded by everybody.

“An air ambulance was called to take me to Addenbrooke’s but the doctor at the scene said the only way I would survive is if they got me to Peterborough.”

The car enthusiast, who has had to learn to walk again, said the mental and emotional trauma of the accident equalled the physical pain.

“I just can’t go there,” he said, “we don’t talk about it.”

Following the accident Mr Hutcheson, who is being retired from Parcelforce, said the Communications Workers Union (CWU) – of which he is a member – took over immediately and soon secured the compensation payout of �550,000.

He and wife Rose, 67, who is also disabled, now plan to use the money to move from their second-floor flat, which has no lift, into a nearby specially adapted house.

A fan of TVR sports cars and F1, Mr Hutcheson said that aside from walking, it was being unable to drive that really upsets him.

“My life will never be the same again,” he said, “and I certainly won’t ever walk the same. My main goal is to get back to driving again.”

Mr Hutcheson, who now walks with the aid of a zimmer frame, says he hopes to move into his new home in 2013, where he can continue his recuperation.

“I’m getting there, slowly,” he added.