'I fell through a roof and almost died and it has changed my life for the best'

Beth Roberts wasn’t sure if her husband, Drew, would live after he suffered catastrophic injuries, but now they want to tell their story to try to help others. Joanne Ridout reports

- Jonathan Myers

Drew and Beth Roberts at their workshop

IT WAS a sunny August day in 2023 when Drew Roberts turned up for work in the best mood because, through years of hard work and determination, he had achieved his career dream.

From starting his own spray company in his mother’s 3m x 3m garage to picking up the keys for a larger workshop in Cardiff Drew's company, Bespoke Spray Shop, had grown and so had his reputation and the number of clients.

But one of the most positive days of his life quickly turned into one of the most catastrophic and life-changing.

He said: “I knew there was a leak and had been on roofs many times as I used to work in construction, so I decided to fix the leak. My friend said, ‘don’t fall’ and I said, ‘of course not’ and that is all I remember for about five days.”

Drew, aged 38 and from Cardiff, had fallen almost two storeys through a rooflight and landed on his head and side, which resulted in injuries including a fractured skull and two bleeds on the brain, as well as a pelvis broken in four places, two broken hips, two broken wrists, a damaged lung and a smashed face.

He said: “When the guys on the site rushed to help me my head was in a pool of blood. There was bleeding out of my ears, my mouth, and my nose.

“I was not in a good way. The welders were telling me to sit down because I was trying to get up and go back to work. They had to pin me down on the floor - I think the adrenaline and panic kicked in. For the next five days I was awake but my brain had blocked out the days, like trauma amnesia.”

For special needs teacher Beth it was just a normal day in the school holidays socialising with another mum and the couple’s two young boys when she got a message from a friend to say Drew had been taken to hospital.

She said: “I assumed he had broken an arm in a little tumble but when I spoke to our friend he sounded really shaken up and upset on the phone.