UKIP: Former UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage last night spoke about his "miraculous escape" from a light aircraft crash after an election stunt went dramatically wrong.
The MEP, who is standing in the general election for Buckingham, was pulled bloodied and dazed from the crushed cockpit of the aircraft, which was towing a banner bearing the slogan, “Vote for your country – Vote UKIP”.
In a statement released by his spokesman, Duncan Barkes, Mr Farage said of the crash, which also injured pilot Justin Adams: “We’ve both had a miraculous escape. We are both very lucky to be alive.”
Mr Farage is being treated at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where a hospital spokeswoman said he was likely to remain “for a few days”.
Mr Barkes added: “He is not going anywhere . . . There is no way he will be at the count . . . He’s got two broken ribs, a small chip to his spine and damage to his sternum.”
Mr Farage’s wife, Kirsten, was at his bedside earlier yesterday but later returned to their home in Westerham, Kent, to care for their two children.
Mr Adams is in a stable condition in hospital in Coventry, where he is being kept under observation, Mr Barkes said.
Mr Farage was talking as soon as he emerged from the wreckage, and managed to walk to the ambulance.
Mr Barkes witnessed the crash, saying the aircraft had been flying low before flipping and hitting the ground.