He’s normally fighting it out in court but today lawyer Fred Smith is in a new battle - to get back on his feet battling for justice.

The Bahamas’ leading human rights lawyer is slowly recovering from horrific injuries suffered in a paragliding accident while holidaying in Italy last month.

After several weeks lying flat on his back with metal rods inserted into his legs, Fred has finally managed to take his first steps and and has begun physio to help him walk normally again.

“It was a pretty brutal accident, all perfectly avoidable,” Fred told The Tribune.

“The pilot, who was a 31-year veteran with 1900 flights to his name, got distracted before take-off and did not attach the left-hand side of the parachute to our harness.

“He had been helping three other young paragliders to get ready. It was just the luck of the draw that we ran into trouble.

“I successfully launched and the pilot immediately recognised the harness wasn’t properly attached. He tried desperately to fix it but then a gust of wind took us up and next thing we began plummeting down,

“Thankfully he was able to yank the right side of the parachute so that instead of us falling 100 feet straight down he was able to throw us against the side of the cliff and so we probably fell 30 or 40 feet sideways.

“I have the full video of takeoff, flight and crash but I haven’t looked at it yet.

“It’s been a little emotional at times but I’m just very thankful to be alive. I was so afraid when I was laying on the side of the mountain, it looked like my foot was going to be taken off.

“I have made my peace with the pilot. No sense in beating himself up or me holding any kind of a grudge. It’s important to be sharing positive support.

“He’s had a pretty bad series of injuries - compound fracture replacement and then plates along a large part of his back above and below, left foot broken, right arm crushed, steel plate in there as well.”

Fred admitted his own injuries and recovery has been traumatic.

“I successfully got over a very bad high fever of up to 103°,” said Fred.

“They thought they were going to have to go back in and operate because I had an infection in my foot and they thought they would have to scrape off the infection.

“Luckily the fever broke. They concluded that it was a nun who had given me and my poor daughter Savannah, a virus. After she went back to the States she was sick for a week.

“Until four days ago I was still on intravenous heavy doses of antibiotic and pain killers and because of my fractured vertebras I have to remain horizontal most of the time to heal.”

This week Fred had to endure one particularly painful part of his recovery process.

“They had two long steel rods going through my heel and all the way up into my leg. They rods have now been taken out. It was pretty brutal and traumatic. There was nothing subtle about the removal. The doctor just went at it with a pair of pliers pulling and twisting and eventually yanking it out. Then going to the next one. Phew!

“I had a good cry because I could finally see my feet and wiggle my toes and start to move my right ankle a little. It was the first time that I let my emotions flow about the enormity of this accident .” said Fred.

“I have a lovely little Frankenstein foot now.

“A few days ago I was able to put a brace on my back and I was taken out to the garden at the convent in the clinic here and enjoy an hour of beautiful sun in a lovely little green garden with huge beautiful trees and birds singing.”

Fred said he had been overwhelmed by messages of support for friends and colleagues and especially visits by people from The Bahamas and the US who were holidaying the in Europe.

“By sheer coincidence three friends from Bahamas actually went to stay at the same little beautiful chalet hotel up in the mountains that I was staying in. They found out about my accident and came down and visited me. And a colleague of mine has a friend in this area and so he and his wife have been coming and visiting and keeping me company.

“People can be so nice. It’s been really wonderful, I really have appreciated all of their positive energy.”

Fred said he believes he will have to remain in Italy for a number of weeks before heading back to The Bahamas.

“Today with the help of the physiotherapist and a walker I took my first tentative steps in four weeks. I’m to start weight-bearing on crutches in about six days,” he explained.

“I’m so grateful that although my injuries are serious, things could’ve been so much worse. I’m getting very good treatment and I bless God every day that I’m alive and getting better every day.”