A HEREFORDSHIRE family is appealing to the county to 'Have a Heart' and help their son rebuild his life following a tragic accident this summer.

Broderick Hart, aged 29, is lying on a bed in Salisbury Hospital's Spinal Treatment Centre after smashing his vertebrae in a fall on a London building site.

His parents David and Sue Hart, of Ledbury, are living up to the family name with the launch of a £50,000 appeal 'Have a Heart' to support Brod and raise awareness of dangers at work.

The accident happened on June 15, nearly two weeks before Brod's 29th birthday and a planned holiday to Thailand.

Celebrations were put on hold as fears that Brod would be paralysed from mid chest down became a reality.

He had fallen nearly three metres through a stairwell while putting up a timber frame on a building site.

"The outcome from such a relatively small fall was cruel. On that morning as he drove to work all of his plans were on course, but at 9.30am one simple event changed his whole life," said dad David Hart.

Brod, who grew up in Hereford and went to Aylestone High School and Hereford Sixth Form College, had future plans to set up a business designing and manufacturing furniture.

The promising design graduate had moved to London with his partner Claire and was working in the timber frame business to pay off college loans first.

He had learnt his building skills from his father during summer holidays from college. David has been prominent in the timber frame business for more than 30 years.

"This industry is very much like an extended family to us and now we are appealing for its support," said David.

"Primarily we want to raise awareness of health and safety issues. Just days after the accident Brod dictated text messages to send people he had worked with on site over the last couple of years. He wanted the impact of what happened to him to shock people into concentrating on safety issues on site," he said.

Good progress

The Brod Hart Trust has been set up to help Brod pay for equipment to get him fully independent again.

He will remain in the Duke of Cornwall Spinal Treatment Centre in Salisbury, where he is said to be making good progress, for the next six to nine months.

Many of his friends and family are involved with fundraising projects. More than £2,000 was raised during the Great North Run in Newcastle upon Tyne on Sunday and will help pay for a special lightweight made-to-measure wheelchair.

There will also be a golf day at Belmont Golf Course on September 28 followed by a karaoke evening.

At the age of just 15 Brod had taken part in a similar appeal. He cycled from John O'Groats to Lands End with two uncles, David and Clive Rowberry, raising more than £6,000 for Hereford's Special care Baby Unit.

Mr and Mrs Hart are due to launch a website on October 1 www.brodharttrust.com to raise awareness of the campaign. David Hart may be contacted on 01531-636595 or by e-mail at sanddhart@aol.com.