Workmen, from left, Sion, Jason and Vaughan Brewer went to the aid of fall victim Terry Barnes 16138/1GAZETTE & HERALD: Janet Barnes has praised workmen who came to her 65-year-old husband Terry's rescue after he fell from a ladder while cleaning his windows.

Mr Barnes, of King Alfred Street, Chippenham, was at the top of the ladder when it slid away, bringing him crashing down on to his brick driveway on Friday afternoon.

Mrs Barnes, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, heard the crash from inside the house but by the time she got downstairs three workmen were already at the door.

Welsh family trio Vaughan Brewer, 41, son Jason, 18, and nephew Sion, 28, rushed across the road from where they were working on gas pipe repairs.

Retired nurse Mrs Barnes, who is also originally from Wales, said: "They were just wonderful. They'd already rung the paramedics, had taken off their coats and were talking to him and I'm just so grateful they were there."

An ambulance arrived and father-of-two Mr Barnes was driven to Westmead Lane sports ground where the air ambulance was waiting to fly him to Bath's Royal United Hospital.

He was treated for a fractured shoulder and pelvis and on Saturday morning he had a hip replacement after shattering his left hip in the fall.

Mrs Barnes said: "He's very fit and healthy and he goes swimming three times a week but at 65 he shouldn't be up a ladder. He does pretty much everything round here and he's very determined so I'm hoping he'll be out of hospital as soon as possible."

Mr Barnes, who works three days a week as purchasing manager at Calne-based LML Products, remains in hospital although has already managed to walk a couple of steps.

Mrs Barnes has been driven to and from the hospital by her neighbours and has been visiting her husband on a daily basis. Their son Vincent and daughter Keren who got married three weeks ago stayed with their mother in Chippenham over the weekend.

Mrs Barnes said: "Terry will be a good patient and do exactly what they tell him so that he can get out early, but it could be a couple of months before he's back to anything like normal."

The workmen, of Avent Engineering, are still working on the road and have offered to help Mrs Barnes with anything that she needs doing around the house.

Workman Mr Brewer said: "It's a real shame this has happened because they're a lovely couple. We heard the crash from across the road and then the groans.

"We just wanted to help him so we kept him warm and kept talking to him until the paramedics came, which was only about five or six minutes later. He was in a lot of pain but he still joked with us and we hope he'll get better as soon as possible."

Mrs Barnes has also kept her sense of humour despite all the worries of the last few days.

She joked about some muddy footprints left by her husband on the driveway.

"I think I should draw white lines around them like they do in Hollywood with famous people to remind him that he shouldn't be climbing up ladders," joked Mrs Barnes.