A BRADFORD family has been left devastated after a father-of-four was seriously injured following a skiing fall.

The Verity family, from Wyke - comprising of married couple Jamie and Rachel and their two youngest children - had gone on the perfect Christmas getaway to Finland's Lapland to experience the magic of Santa Claus this past weekend.

However, excitement soon turned to panic when Jamie took a terrible tumble on a mountain slope and was rushed to hospital.

Thankfully his injuries are not as bad as first feared.

Rachel's mother Tracey Kerr said: "The bleed on his brain stopped and they operated on him on Monday.

"He has got two breaks in his back. They have put some steel rods in

"It is a better prognosis than on Saturday where they told us he could have been paralysed."

The family travelled over to Finland on Friday morning and had intended for a happy four-day stay.

Tracey said: "They went with another couple and their children but they were all there when it happened (the fall).

"The children have seen it. They were all quite stressed. It is not a nice thing to see."

Jamie was taken by ambulance to a specialist hospital four hours away from where the family were staying.

Rachel and the kids flew home, as scheduled on Sunday, but she went back yesterday morning to go support her husband.

In a latest update of Jamie's condition, Tracey said: "They have got him out of bed to walk. He has a lot of pain. He has managed to take a couple of steps with walking aids.

"We are not sure when he will come home or if the insurance will cover anything.

"He will need to be able to walk and sit up. He will be in a brace for about three months.

"He needs to go a period of five hours without any pain relief before they can consider him coming home."

Over £8,000 has been raised for the family to fund construction worker Jamie's medical and rehabilitation costs.

Tracey said: "Jamie is self employed so if he isn’t working, he is not earning. Rachel is a community midwife, working part time.

"It is going to be a struggle for them financially, even when we manage to get him home."

On the fundraiser, she added: "It has done really well. We would love people to share it, even if they can’t donate.

"We appreciate everyone is struggling but even if it is a small donation that would be fabulous."