A CHEF who was picked up by the winds of Hurricane Fabian and blown so hard against a wall he cracked five ribs was told by doctors he was lucky to be alive.

Rene Notter said he had gone out of his St. David's home to pick up a piece of wood at around 6.30 p.m. on September 5 when a gust of wind from the raging storm sent him flying through the air.

Unaware of the extent of his injuries, he flew to Florida three days later with fluid in his right lung ? a flight that could have resulted in his death.

The pain was so bad that 41-year-old Mr. Notter checked into a hospital in West Palm Beach where, after eight hours of X-rays, heart and blood tests, the patient was told he was fortunate to have survived.

Mr. Notter spent five weeks recuperating in the US before flying back to the island. He believes only divine intervention saved his life.

The chef said that on the day of the hurricane, he had stepped outside his home when the winds appeared to have died down. He retrieved a piece of wood that had been covering a window. The wind caught the wood like a sail, he said.

"The wind picked me up with the wood in my hands and suddenly I was airborne in a strong gust of wind," Mr. Notter said.

"I was thrown into a wall approximately ten feet away from where I had been standing. The winds had to be at least 100 km per hour.

"When I came to I was in shock and could not talk or breathe properly."

Mr. Notter said he believed he was blessed after previous incidents where he had manged to effectively cheat death.

Once he fell around 20 metres from a tree and landed on his back, but walked away.

And on another occasion, he flew off a high diving board at the wrong angle, because someone was jumping on it behind him. He was propelled towards a wall and managed to twist in mid-air to avoid hitting it head first. He suffered leg injuries.

After the hurricane had blown him against the wall, Mr. Notter said his wife Sheena had dragged him back into their home and laid him out on the bed, face down. Unable to get to hospital the following day amid the post-Fabian chaos, Mr. Notter was examined by Dr. Andrew West in St. George's.

The brief check-up took place on the sidewalk and the doctor told Mr. Notter he might have a few bruised ribs and to check his urine for blood which could indicate lung damage.

The family had arranged a holiday in Florida and they flew out on Monday, September 8, changing planes in Atlanta. The pain in Mr. Notter's right side was so bad he went to the West Palm Beach Hospital the next day, where he underwent numerous tests and some ten X-rays.

"The doctors told me that I broke five ribs ? the fifth to the ninth ? and that I had fluid in my right lung," Mr. Notter said. "Immediately everybody came to check me out because they could not believe I had travelled and walked into the hospital in that condition. All the doctors told me I was very lucky to be alive.

"They were calling me the famous patient from Bermuda. The only explanation I can think of is that God sent his angels to save me from death."

Swiss by birth, Mr. Notter has lived and worked in Bermuda for 20 years at a number of restaurants and has recently started up his own business, Chefs R Us.