A FORMER soldier who suffered a life-threatening brain injury has said he is on the road to recovery after moving to Barrhead.

David Martin, 35, was involved in a horror road crash five years ago which left him facing a long rehabilitation battle.

But he said that struggle had been made easier thanks to the intervention of his local councillor, Danny Devlin, who arranged a house swap so he could be closer to his mum.

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It was in January 2013 that David, then an infantryman in the British Army, was involved in a crash while driving from his barracks in Inverness to his uncle’s funeral in Glasgow.

He said: “I came off the road due to black ice and hit a tree. The guy behind me came to help and phoned for an air ambulance. If not for that, I wouldn’t be here today.

“I survived Afghanistan to come back and nearly die in a car crash.

“I was comatose for about 10 weeks, which was a bit of an inconvenience. I missed the funeral, obviously, and I missed my 30th birthday.

“When I woke up, I had to learn how to do everything again. I’m still in the process of relearning everything, so it’s a great thing my mum is close.”

David was blinded in one eye, his brain and speech functions were severely impacted and he was left at risk of potentially fatal seizures.

After leaving hospital, he spent more than two years in an injury rehabilitation unit and then six months in a Scottish veterans’ residence before being moved into a council house in Giffnock.

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The dad-of-two said: “I was living alone and there was nobody close to me. I used to drive Mastiffs and Jackals in the army but I lost my licence because of my injury, which meant I had to take three buses just to visit my mum.

“I’ve had a lot of support from Help For Heroes and Scottish War Blinded, but I wanted to be closer to her.”

Cllr Devlin, council convener for housing, said it was by chance he knew of a man living in Levern Crescent who was looking to move closer to Glasgow.

David said he reached out to the Barrhead News because he wanted to publicly thank Cllr Devlin.

“I want everyone to know what a nice man he is,” added David.