A CLERGYMAN left temporarily paralysed after undergoing emergency surgery while on holiday has now spoken his first words since his ordeal.Canon David Wall, 67, from Bury St Edmunds, was able to ask for a drink of water as he continues his recovery in hospital.

A CLERGYMAN left temporarily paralysed after undergoing emergency surgery while on holiday has now spoken his first words since his ordeal.

Canon David Wall, 67, from Bury St Edmunds, was able to ask for a drink of water as he continues his recovery in hospital.

The cleric had been on holiday with his wife, Sally, on the island of Menorca last month when he suffered pain in his shoulder which rapidly worsened, making his arms and legs numb.

He was airlifted to Palma on the neighbouring island of Mallorca where he underwent five hours of surgery for an infectious cyst, which began to impact on his spinal cord. Mr Wall is now being treated at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

His wife yesterday said her husband now had sensation in his legs, something the family have been praying for after fearing he would lose use of his legs.

“The first thing he said was, I think, 'drink of water'. But we could not give him any because he still can't have anything by mouth because he cannot swallow. He has also now asked for a cup of tea, so things are coming back though he comes in and out of reality,” said Mrs Wall.

“He asks if he can come home which is quite sad. But things are tonnes better and he is talking 19 to the dozen. Things are moving quite fast.”

Mrs Wall praised staff at Addenbrooke's for the treatment her husband has received. She said: “All the staff are highly skilled, professional, compassionate and caring, involving and comforting relatives and patients as much as is possible in such difficult circumstances.

“This is the NHS at its absolute best and I thank them from the bottom of my heart.”

Mr Wall served in Northern Ireland as an Army chaplain during the bloodiest parts of the troubles in the province during the early 1970s.

He moved to Suffolk in 1973 after leaving the Army where worked as a priest in the east Suffolk parishes of Orford, Sudbourne and Chillesford.

laurence.cawley@eadt.co.uk