James Cattrall spent his son Teddy’s first birthday in hospital recovering from a devastating car crash.

Now the Alton father is preparing to help other survivors rebuild their lives as a volunteer with charity Day One Trauma Support.

More than four years after the crash that left him with multiple fractures, his own recovery continues.

The father-of-two was 30 when his car collided with a van in July 2022, breaking bones in his arms, legs, ribs, sternum and spine.

He spent eight weeks at Southampton General Hospital before returning home, where he faced a prolonged recovery and the loss of his independence.

He said: “I was a 30-year-old man and back in nappies. A stranger had to clean me. There was a lot to be angry at.

“The life I knew had gone. The man I was had gone. Instead, I had become someone who was completely reliant on everyone else to do the most basic of things.”

Unable to get upstairs, James slept on the sofa and spent much of his time confined to the lounge.

“I was confined to one room with the ability to do very little, day after day, week after week, month after month. It does things to your head,” he said.

He hopes becoming a peer support volunteer will help others feel less isolated while giving him a renewed sense of purpose.

“I know how much this service helps people. After going through one of the most traumatic experiences of your life, you can still feel alone – even when you have family and friends around you,” he said.

“My partner Millie was amazing, and we are now closer than ever. But as much as your people try to be there for you, they can never fully understand what you have been through. Only someone who has experienced something similar can and that’s what I’m hoping to do.

“But I think this will give me a bit of myself back too. I tried going back to work, but the travel was too much, and I’ve missed having that sense of purpose.”

Day One Trauma Support provides practical and emotional help to people with life-changing injuries and their families, including dedicated caseworkers and peer support from people who have experienced major trauma.

James said: “Volunteering with Day One Trauma Support gives me something to focus on, but more importantly it means I can take everything I’ve been through and hopefully make someone else’s journey a little less lonely.”