A BBC wildlife expert was left with severe brain damage after plunging 30ft from a cliff when his climbing equipment suddenly failed.
Bruce Miller, 28, a researcher with the BBC’s Natural History Unit, spent 17 days in a coma following the catastrophic fall at Avon Gorge, Somerset, in July last year.
His friends desperately performed first aid as they waited more than 90 minutes for emergency services to arrive – with paramedics eventually abseiling down the cliff face to reach him.
Bruce was airlifted to Southmead Hospital, where he was placed in an induced coma and underwent emergency surgery. He was later transferred to a specialist Brain Injury Unit, where he has remained ever since.
Following the accident on July 13, Bruce’s parents Richard and Alison, both 59, relocated to Bristol from Bury St Edmunds to be closer to their son during his recovery.
‘We knew from the outset that it was going to be months or years before he gained some kind of independence again,’ Richard told .
‘There has not been a day where he has been on his own since that day, with visits from family and friends.’
Bruce is expected to finally be released in May, but doctors have warned his worried family that there could be at least a three-month gap before community rehabilitation is provided.
His friends and family have now set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds to cover the costs of private rehabilitation until community rehab becomes available.
Bruce’s friend Scott Abrahams, who set up the page, told : ‘We are all very keen climbers. But Bruce by far is the most experienced. He has been climbing since he was a young kid with his dad so he was very experienced.
‘He is an amazing person and he deserves as much chance as possible to have a normal life.
‘It feels very like he has had his life taken away from him by complete chance and it is incredibly heartbreaking because he was going to do some amazing things in his life and we were planning to do all these adventures together of various sorts.
‘I just want him to have some level of independence back so he can live life outside and enjoy it.’
Bruce spent 11 weeks in total at Southmead Hospital, where he spent 17 days in a coma.
He then endured a number of gruelling operations, including the placement of a shunt to drain fluid that was building up in his brain.
Bruce was then taken to the specialist brain unit, where he began his rehabilitation.
This includes physiotherapy to help him move from sitting to standing and eventually walk, speech and language therapy to help him speak intentionally, and occupational therapy to rebuild Bruce’s independence.
Scott added: ‘Bruce is one of the nicest, kindest people I have ever met and our friendship group would all say the same.
‘He is the sort of person you are quite privileged to be friends with and he very much fits into what a lot of us like doing which is spending time outdoors.
‘He was a really, really experienced climber and the accident was a complete fluke accident where something broke and he fell and hurt himself.
‘He is incredibly kind, caring and amazing. He still has his personality – when we go visit him he’s laughing at all the inappropriate jokes I am making.
‘He is still very much there so hopefully with more treatment he can get more independence.
‘The NHS has been really, really great and we are hoping the fundraiser will help bridge the gap as he waits for community rehabilitation.’
Bruce grew up in Suffolk before studying Natural Sciences at Cambridge University. After graduating with a first, he landed his first job at the BBC.
Richard added: ‘Bruce was a researcher at the BBC and at the time of his injury last July they were just putting the finishing touches together on an Apple TV programme called The Secret Lives of Animals.
‘He loved his work and had been fortunate enough to work on Spring Watch and Winter Watch. He loved his work with the BBC and their support has been remarkable from the beginning.
‘From a very early age, Bruce was never happier than when he was out in the wilderness somewhere. We would always take his brother and him walking and camping.
‘We are really humbled by the kindness and generosity of these hundreds of people who have already donated to the fundraiser.
‘It’s mind blowing and we have never experienced anything like this. So we want to say a huge thank you to the people who have already donated.
‘Friends, family and even people who don’t know him are helping him to get back to some sort of normality.
‘There are many, many people going through the same thing,’ Richard added. ‘We have met families going through similar situations.
‘Through every stage we have been supported by people in the NHS by everyone involved from consultants right down to the rehab assistants and support staff. Everyone we have come into contact with has been amazing.’
The fundraiser, at time of writing, has already raised more than £23,000 out of its £45,000 goal.