A father-of-three still in hospital almost three months after cheating death in a horrific car smash has been told it will be two years before his broken body is mended.

David Linley and his wife, Eva, in happier times. Mr Linley is still recovering from the horrific injuries he received in a road crash in January. Mrs Linley visits her husband every day in hospital

David Linley, 48, spent 25 hours on the operating table as surgeons painstakingly rebuilt his shattered face, and carried out a delicate operation on his spine to stabilise his broken neck.

Speaking for the first time about the family's nightmare, his still distraught wife, Eva, revealed the extent of her husband's appalling injuries.

They include:

A "hangman's" fracture at the top of his neck

A shattered right knee which eventually will require a new knee joint

A dislocated left hip and smashed hip socket

A broken jaw and severe facial injuries, which required the insertion of several metal plates

A broken collarbone, wrist and foot, and a deep wound to his left knee.

Mrs Linley still travels from her South Milford home every day to see her husband in Leeds General Infirmary.

She said: "His face was literally in pieces with his nose completely detached. The surgeons did a marvellous job rebuilding his face. He was in intensive care for a week and it was touch and go. The police and paramedics who attended the accident said they didn't expect him to make it to the hospital.

"It's a miracle he's still alive - it was only his sheer will to live that pulled him through."

The family is now hoping and praying Mr Linley - who is still being fed through a tube - will be allowed out of hospital for his daughter's wedding in May.

Mrs Linley was speaking after launching a fresh appeal for the driver of a Metro car, who stopped at the scene of the crash before leaving when the police arrived, to come forward.

Mr Linley, a sales manager with Platts Harris Agricultural Group at Selby Common, was on his way home from work at 6.15pm on January 5 when his Ford Sierra was in a head-on collision with a Landrover Freelander on the B1222 Cawood to Sherburn-in-Elmet road. Freelander driver John Beardsley, of Escrick, who suffered chest and leg injuries, and a passing motorist helped pull the unconscious Mr Linley from his Sierra only seconds before both vehicles burst into flames.

Two Selby miners also stopped and administered first-aid, and Mrs Linley has personally thanked them for helping to save her husband's life.

Mrs Linley said: "Tracing the Metro driver won't make David any better, but knowing what happened will at least give us peace of mind."

Anyone with information should contact Mrs Linley on 01977 684797 or TC Andy Patchett on 01757 702596.

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