AMATEUR footballer Karl Briggs suffered 12 broken bones when he fell 30ft from a bridge.

Karl, 25, fell while fooling about with friends after a night out in Colchester.

Medics amazed he survived at all, told him he will never play football again.

But having defied the odds once, Karl, who lives in Prettygate, Colchester, has now vowed to do so again.

Speaking from his bed in the specialist spine injury unit at Addenbroke’s Hospital, Cambridge, he said: “Doctors told me they were shocked I survived. They have told me I can’t work for three months and will never play football again. It would mean losing something I love, so I’m determined to prove them wrong.”

The former Philip Morant School pupil fractured his spine and suffered a cracked sternum, six broken ribs, a fractured hand, and broke his foot in three places.

It happened as he and his friends dared each other to cross the Balkerne Hill footbridge on the wrong side of the handrails on Monday, July 2 at 2.50am.

Karl slipped and fell, an incident he described as a moment of stupidity. He admitted he was still haunted by the accident, adding: “Me and my friend had hold of each other, then I slipped.

“The next thing I remember is waking up with paramedics around me.

“It was entirely my fault. I’ve been waking up with nightmares, reliving it.”

Before the fall, Karl worked as a binman and a cleaner and played football as often as three times a week.

He finally took his first steps aided by crutches yesterday, and now faces months of physiotherapy before he can even stand unaided.

He still has casts on his arm and leg and a catheter fitted, but said he was not in any pain.

Doctors have told him he will be wheelchair-bound when he is allowed out of hospital and will require three months of physiotherapy.

He said he hoped his experience would stop anyone else trying the same stunt.

He said: “I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. I don’t want people to muck around on bridges.”