IF you are in need of a little bit of inspiration, look no further than Sam Fairbrother and his wife, Kerry-Anne. As today’s lead story explains, Sam’s life was turned totally inside out by a traffic accident last October, which was no fault of his.

He suffered terrible injuries and spent two weeks in an induced coma.

Doctors told Kerry-Anne he would not pull through, but she refused to accept it and would not give permission for his life support machine to be switched off.

Today, 36-year-old Sam is a paraplegic and is adjusting to life in a wheelchair.

Our photographs of Sam and his family give a clue as to why he defied the medical experts, despite a severed spinal cord and badly damaged internal organs.

He has three adoring children (only little Erin is pictured) and a loving and devoted wife whose dedication to her husband was obvious within a few seconds of our telephone conversation when she called to tell us of their difficulties in finding somewhere suitable to live.

The local housing association appears to have been dragging its feet and Sam only has a few days before he is discharged from hospital.

For him to end up in an old people’s home, even temporarily, would be a real slap in the face and would keep the family apart in the short term.

This is unacceptable and it’s yet another case of a system that fails to move quickly or sympathetically enough for those who are most deserving.