A Dublin man who has been homeless for decades has been left with life-changing injuries after saving a man's life four years ago.
Christopher Corr, 49, was left with a broken back in four places, a ruptured spinal cord and a broken hand after his brave actions brought the man to safety. The horrendous accident happened when he heard a cry for help from a building site beside Christchurch and went to see what was happening.
After reaching down to save a man who was stuck on railings, he ended up falling and the man also fell on top of him, leaving him with the life-changing injuries. After spending the last several years using a wheelchair to move around, he only had his first physiotherapy session on February 6 this year.
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He said: "Me and my girlfriend were in the park just opposite Christchurch and we were kicking a ball and I heard someone calling help. So I noticed a lad was stuck in a rut [at the railings] and he couldn't get up and he couldn't get down. He was stuck in a position he shouldn't have been in for some reason, I didn't know why he was there.
"I got down on my stomach and put my hand up to help the man and he jumped up and grabbed my hand and he pulled up towards me but he was too heavy for me to be pulling up so he ended up dragging me downwards. So I fell down, about 40 foot, went by him, and then he ended up falling down after me. His cushion was me. He broke my back in four places and ruptured my spinal cord."
The man who he helped to save did not stop to help after the fall, Christopher claims. But despite his struggles, Christopher is just glad that both of them are alive.
He said: "That's why I am the way I am [now], sat in a wheelchair. The man that I did save got up on his feet and ran. If someone helps you to save your life, you'd be happy to be alive, wouldn't you? It still wrecks my head, thinking, what did he run for? He left his wallet behind, his wallet and phone behind, because of the fall. They fell out of his pocket. Even after I shouted, he turned around and ran back towards me, picked up his wallet and his belongings, didn't say one word to me, turned around and ran. Been there one minute and gone the next.
"Thank God I'm still alive. I didn't get a thanks off the man. This happened about four years ago, I've been stuck in the wheelchair ever since. I know in my brain I will walk again. It's in my head that I will. When I fix my mind on something, I won't stop until I do it. It's just a gut instinct, I know I'll walk."
Christopher can't use his arms and now uses his one good leg to pull himself forward. He continued: "That's my life for saving someone else's life. But it doesn't really bother me because that man is still alive and I'm still alive so goodness is after coming out of it. The two of us are still alive, things could be worse. There's always somebody worse off."
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He is now living in a hotel in Dublin city centre for several months and before that he was moving between hostels of which many were not wheelchair accessible. He said the hotel has "saved his life" and at points during his time on the streets he was living in a tent in the Phoenix Park.
Now a friend of his, David Kremser, has set up a GoFundMe in an attempt to raise money to buy an electric wheelchair for Christopher. He says it will drastically improve his friend's quality of life. You can find out more here.
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