Swazi crash victim returns home

Portia and Mervyn Humphreys had married days before the crash

A man who was badly injured in a crash in Swaziland in which his baby died has returned home from hospital and hopes to finally visit his son's grave.

Mervyn Humphreys and his wife Portia married during the trip to the southern African kingdom, days before a lorry smashed into their car in August 2007.

Mr Humphreys, 38, from Caersws, Powys, was paralysed down one side and his six-month-old son Cameron was killed.

Since then he has spent months recuperating in several hospitals.

Mrs Humphreys, a Swaziland national, spent months travelling back and forth to Cardiff, staying for five days at a time in a hotel as she visited her husband in the city's Rookwood Hospital.

He was transferred to hospital in Newtown in November, from where he had been allowed home at weekends.

I hope Merv will get back into society and get back to himself. This is a new life and we have to move forward Portia Humphreys

But he was finally released from hospital on Saturday and Mrs Humphreys said she was "excited and relieved" to have him back with her permanently.

"He loves being at home," she said. "He has come to terms with what happened to him and he wants to go to his son's grave.

"It's in a village about 10 miles away and a friend and I tried to take him but we couldn't get his wheelchair up the hill because it was muddy and raining. But we will try again."

Mrs Humphreys was driving to a safari park when the crash happened on 21 August 2007.

Firefighters freed her husband while Mrs Humphreys and her son were eventually airlifted to hospital in Pretoria, South Africa, where she was told Cameron had a fractured skull.

Cameron Humphreys died after the accident in August 2007

At an inquest into Cameron's death in November, Powys coroner Peter Maddox recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Mr Humphreys suffered a broken leg, ankle, pelvis, jaw, ribs and a broken bone in the back of his neck and has since spent time in hospitals in Cardiff, Aberystwyth and Newtown.

He is paralysed down one side and struggles with his speech.

Speech therapy

The couple's home has been adapted with ramps and a special shower to ensure he can move around in his electric wheelchair, which they are waiting to be delivered.

Mr Humphreys will also have a carer visit him four times a day while his wife is in work and will continue to go to hospital for physiotherapy and speech therapy.

But Mrs Humphreys said they were determined to move forward.

"What happened was a shock and was very traumatic," she said.

"I have managed to come to terms with it because I'm a Christian and things like this happen. I just have to help Merv.

"He is determined to get back on his feet. I have always been positive and we have had so much support from the community, who have raised money for us.

"I hope Merv will get back into society and get back to himself. This is a new life and we have to move forward."