MORE than 18 months after he lost both his legs in an horrific accident in Lyme Regis, Alexander Quan-Yat-Koon is learning to walk again.

He is undergoing twice-weekly physiotherapy sessions in Exeter but hopes to have learn how to balance enough to walk unaided by the end of the year.

Alexander, known as Sandy to his friends, suffered life-threatening injuries in a collision involving a Royal Mail lorry on his 38th birthday on October 15, 2010.

The lorry propelled him through a window of the Mariners Hotel and the father-of-one spent weeks in intensive care and eventually lost both his legs.

The 40-year-old driver of the Royal Mail lorry had to be cut free.

The driver was originally charged with driving without due care and attention but a year later after his initial court appearance the Crown Prosecution Service wrote to Mr Quan-Yat-Koon to tell him the case was being dropped – because they could not be sure of a conviction.

It was a blow and Mr Quan-Yat-Koon said at the time he felt cheated.

Now Mr Quan-Yat-Koon, who comes from the Seychelles, is focusing on the future and hopes to resume his studies for his final accountancy exams by the end of year.

He said: “I haven’t got my balance back yet, but I am walking with two sticks.

“I still go to physiotherapy in Exeter twice a week, a group of volunteer drivers come and take me to that. Being positive is the only way forward.”

Although his son Alex goes to school in Lyme Regis and he and his wife both work in Lyme Regis the family has had to move from Lyme to a bungalow in Axminster.

Despite his injuries Mr Quan-Yat-Koon returned to work as an accountant in February 2011 – about four months after the accident.