Man escapes death from tree fall

14/12/11

By Leo Stevens

A Hampshire man is lucky to be alive after a large segment of a 60ft tree smashed through his bedroom in the middle of the night in high winds.

Richard Wilkinson was only slightly injured when the beech tree snapped in half, with one segment causing considerable damage as it crashed into his bedroom on the first floor of his detached bungalow in Winchester.

The 65-year-old will need surgery for an ear injury sustained in the incident, but he is expected to be discharged from Salisbury District Hospital soon and make a full recovery.

Despite the unfortunate damage caused to the property, the accident could have had a tragic outcome as the tree crashed on to his wife Angela's side of the bed, but she was sparred injury as she was away at the time.

The couple's daughter, 20-year-old Oxford University student Eleanor, was also in the house during the incident.

She said: "I heard a resounding crash and ran over to my dad's room and he could not get out of the door.

"He was quite dazed and the electricity was off and he said one of the trees had fallen down.

"He was quite calm really and he called the emergency services, who came and managed to lift him out of the bedroom."