A CLIMBING instructor recovering from serious injuries after a cliffside fall has raised more than £2,000 for equipment for a children's ward.James Linford,52, of Nayland Road, Colchester, suffered extensive injuries, including compound leg fractures, when he slipped on a wet rock and tumbled 50ft in December last year from Wintaurs Leap over the River Wye in Chepstow.

A CLIMBING instructor recovering from serious injuries after a cliffside fall has raised more than £2,000 for equipment for a children's ward.

James Linford,52, of Nayland Road, Colchester, suffered extensive injuries, including compound leg fractures, when he slipped on a wet rock and tumbled 50ft in December last year from Wintaurs Leap over the River Wye in Chepstow.

Now he has completed a 100-mile sponsored walk for the children's ward of Colchester General Hospital.

The father-of-four initially hoped to raise £1,000, but yesterday he presented a cheque to senior sister Linda Pearce for double the amount.

The money will be used for three oxygen-saturation monitors, which allow oxygen levels to be checked without the need for a blood test.

Mr Linford said: "It is funny because when I was ill the oxygen saturation monitors were something used on me when I first had my fall because the injuries to my ribs led to trouble breathing."

Senior sister Pearce said the equipment would serve a vital role in the ward.

She said: "It means a great deal as we are replacing some of the older machines and bringing in new up-to-date pieces of machinery.

"They are constantly used on the patients from nought to 16 whenever they have difficulty breathing or when they have been seriously ill."