AN East Renfrewshire dad who suffered horrific injuries in a freak accident has told how the pain was “the closest a guy could experience to giving birth.”

David McWaters, 42, was so badly hurt after falling from a skate ramp that he had to learn how to walk again.

He suffered internal bleeding as his pelvis punctured his stomach and his left thigh bone was “pulverized.”

The dad-of-two had to give up his wedding photography business while trying to pay for physiotherapy and was unsure if his leg would ever fully recover.

Now, almost four years after the fall, David still has dreadful nightmares about it.

“The pain after the accident was through the roof,” he recalled. “The mental problems that came after were even worse, though.

“The anxiety of not knowing if I would get fully better or be able to walk was so hard and also trying to get back to work was stressful.

“I have always worked and never taken time off, so to not be able to do anything and just seeing the bank balance decline was worrying.

“Part of the recovery was dealing with anxiety issues and working through that. I am proud to say I have been working on it.”

David had taken his daughters Emily, 10, and Zoey, six, to Haddington Skatepark in August 2018 for a fun family day out when disaster struck.

As he watched them play on their scooters, he lost his balance and plummeted off a ramp, landing on his hip.

He was rushed to hospital, where he stayed for two weeks.

Surgeons used screws to pin his bones together but he suffered nerve damage, limiting his mobility.

David relied on crutches for more than a year until managing to use a walking stick by Christmas 2020.

He worked with private sports therapist Eilidh Dorrian, which he believes “saved” his career.

Their sessions helped him focus on his family business, Central Domestic Appliances.

David, from Eaglesham, said: “I can’t run or ride motorbikes anymore but at least I can walk again.

“Eilidh pushed my boundaries. We did lots of stretching exercises and the feeling gradually started to return to my leg. It was during lockdown, on one of my daily walks, I realised I didn’t even have a limp anymore.

“I still have more physio to do but I’ve come a long way.”