When motorist Adrian Bull broke his neck in a head-on 70mph crash with a lorry, surgeons feared he would die.

Adrian Bull

But nearly two years later, the 23-year-old was today joining them at the official opening of their new £8.5m trauma unit, at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.

Mr Bull has every reason to lend his support to the team of workers at the unit, who pieced him back together after he shattered 16 bones in a car crash, on the Oxford Eastern Bypass, near Cowley, in November 2000.

As well as fracturing nine vertebrae in his back and neck, the BMW factory worker broke six ribs and the tiny teardrop bone, which is virtually impossible to break.

Mr Bull, of Ridgeway Road, Risinghurst, said: "The JR staff said they had never seen a young man with so many broken bones still alive, and I honestly can't believe that I'm still alive, let alone walking.

"When I woke up after the crash I was paralysed.

"All I can remember is telling my dad I didn't think I'd get through the operation.

"I had an 11 per cent chance of pulling through. I have never been so scared in my whole life. From being very active and always on the go, I couldn't do anything and I started panicking."

The JR trauma team, led by surgeon Gavin Bowden, carried out an eight-hour operation on Mr Bull, in which they used bone from his pelvis and a titanium brace to splint his broken neck.

He was strapped into a halo brace and left to heal for six months.

Despite the odds, Mr Bull was walking within days, discharged from hospital after a fortnight, and back at work in five months.

Except for faint scars from the brace and limited movement in his neck, no-one would know he had ever broken his neck.

He said: "I was so determined to get on my feet and walk about to show people I could do it. It was a wonderful moment, like I was being born again.

"Mr Bowden is just the most incredible man. The whole trauma team are wonderful.

"I can't praise them enough. I will never forget what they've done for me."

The Bull family has raised £4,000 for a spinal hoist, which is already being used at the 56-bed trauma unit, and is known as Adrian's Hoist.

Today they will join doctors and nurses at the official opening of the building, which has a dedicated outpatients department, its own x-ray, a day surgery unit, physiotherapy and occupational therapy areas and fracture clinic.

Mr Bull's mother Joy, 55, said: "I don't think the trauma unit is promoted enough. We know they do miracles there, because we've seen it happen. It was an eye-opener for me. I just can't believe anyone with so many injuries could pull through and come back to life."