It has been five weeks since Graham Fox has been on his feet, which hasn?t been easy for somebody who likes to keep busy.

Simple things like playing with his two young children were taken for granted before, but the 38-year-old mason counts his blessings that a December 8 fall off a roof did not take his life... and that he will live to see the birth of his third child next month.

Smith was working on a roof at a house on Slippery Hill, St. George?s, nearing the end of the job, when a freak accident saw him slide off the roof of the single storey building and crash, feet first, to the ground with so much force that he left a boot imprint in the ground. The fall, which he admits could have been much worst, left him with a shattered left leg and a fractured heel on his right foot.

Fox, who spent two weeks in hospital and has had surgery on his left leg has been confined to a wheelchair, is facing a long recovery process. He can expect to have a cast on his left leg for another month after the external fixator, which is keeping his left leg in place, is removed, possibly as early as today. Then there is a period of physiotherapy to look forward to.

The whole experience has been humbling for the St. David?s resident, who captained St. George?s for three years in Cup Match in the early 1990s. As he spoke of the roof ordeal he continued to count his blessings.

?I tried to stop but I realised it was not going to happen,? said Fox whose quick reaction and calm demeanour probably saved his life.

?I realised almost immediately that I had to relax as much as possible. I was moving so fast. When I left the roof it was one of the most incredible things, I could feel it in my ears.

?In my mind I was saying ?gotta get my feet down? but the speed was unbelievable. As I was flying through the air I kept trying to get my feet down, to hit and then give at the knees to absorb the shock. But when I slid, I slid off my left foot so my left foot went in front of me so far and I was moving so fast that I could never catch up the left foot with the right foot.?

Added Fox: ?I hit with my left foot first and then my right foot hit...with unbelievable force. I was standing up looking at myself, looking at my right foot first because I could feel the pain.

?Then I looked at the left foot and it was like a tennis ball sticking out here (pointing to the inside of the ankle). I looked at it and thought ?man, this is something serious?, but I was still standing. I thought it was unreal that I was still standing.?

Eventually Fox dropped to his knees and started to crawl to his car before two colleagues came to his aid and called 911. His left leg was broken in three places.

?The guy who I was working with was still on the roof, he said he just saw a flash go across him,? said Fox.

?He said he didn?t know what he was going to come down and find. He was really terrified.

?When I tell people about it some of them say ?Graham, you are really blessed?. I?m like ?yeah, you?re right, because it doesn?t make any sense to me?.?

The accident happened very quickly, as Fox remembers painting the roof as the job neared completion. Suddenly he turned and slipped on some wet roof paint which sent him flying to the ground.

?The roof was damaged during the hurricane and we took it right off and replaced it with an SKB roof,? explained Fox.

?We were on the last coat (of paint) and we were talking in the morning how we would be finished before lunch, that we would be finished this job and then we would go to another one.

?The wind had come up that morning. I was a distance higher than the bucket and when I reached the staff into the bucket the wind must have blown some paint off the brush and right onto the level I was work. I didn?t notice it and when I turned to step I was gone. I fell and just slid.

?I had gone from just standing there and in control, talking about being finished in a little while to just flying... sliding at speed and realising there?s no stopping today.

?It was like when you see the guys on the luge on TV. I laid back and was going really quick and went straight off the roof. It?s unbelievable that you come off at that type of speed and still be standing. It leaves me baffled.

?People in gymnastics train for years and years to try to land like that!?

Fox admits the experience has changed the way he looks at life, no longer taking anything for granted.

?People come up to me and say ?Graham, the Lord has blessed you?, I have to agree with them,? he stated.

?The whole experience has humbled me. It made me take a look at myself and realise I have to do more things in the community. I realise I have a lot to offer and now it is time to get out there and help other people.

?That is what this brought home to me. Looking at the situation I realise it is possible I wouldn?t be here or I could be seriously injured much worse than I am. It has brought home all the little things in life that you take for granted, how unimportant some things are and how important even the little things are that we tend to overlook.?

Lying motionless in hospital for two weeks was also very humbling.

?When I was in the hospital I was looking at walls for two weeks, all I could see was walls and a (water) catchment across from my room,? he recalled.

?I knew I needed to get out of that place. I?m used to coming out of my house and seeing the water and Clearwater Beach. Those are the things I really appreciated.?

And it is at times when he can?t do for himself that he appreciates the support family members have given, including his wife, Donna, mother and mother-in-law.

?My mother-in-law was home for two weeks during the Christmas holiday so we went and lived with them, the fact that my wife worked and I needed help during the day,? said Fox.

?I?m blessed by the fact that I was able to spend time with them, because my mother works. We have a boy (three) and a girl (seven) but my wife is pregnant and due next month so it has really been difficult for her.

?I have to give her so much credit for being so strong. She said to me ?remember what your vows say?. I couldn?t ask for more from a wife. This experience has been a life-altering experience, to make you see some of the areas you are going wrong but how you can improve not only yourself but help other people too.?

He added: ?Being in the hospital you are looking at yourself and saying ?man, I have a hard journey here?. But then you see other people, in some cases in a much worst situation than you, and then you have to keep it in context. Then you see the news and people getting killed around the world daily and you realise it is not as bad as what some people are going through.

?Sitting in the hospital I was thinking about how I always put safety first on jobs. We would be on jobs and I would see something dangerous and say ?I?m not doing that?.

?Looking at the situation now the only way I would have prevented that from happening was if I was wearing a harness. If I was wearing a harness I wouldn?t have fallen off the roof.?

Fox suffered no injuries to any other part of his body, but the exterior fixator, which is fixed to his shin and heel with pins, is a constant reminder of the ordeal.

?My children didn?t come to the hospital until a week-and-a-half later and you could see it in their face that they were really, really scared,? he explained.

?My wife had to explain to them that ?daddy?s alright and it is just his legs, not his face or anything?. They just didn?t know. When they came in to see me they didn?t want to come in, but I kept saying ?daddy?s alright?.

?It makes me appreciate that I have so much to look foward to and to get well for.?

Dr. Milan Oleksak performed the two surgeries on Fox?s left leg which took the brunt of the fall. He also had ten visits to the hyperbaric chamber at the hospital to aid in his healing.

Is there any fear about going back on a roof?

?That?s what I do,? said Fox. ?I?ll just have to take precautions.

?It?s almost impossible not to take things for granted, but now you have to be that much more cautious.

?I?ll be happy to get up and walk on crutches, so I can move outside and just get around. The thing that excites me most now is to roll (the wheelchair) outside and soak up the sun!?