THIRTY years to the day after suffering life-threatening burns, a former Lymm man has helped the people who saved his life.

Gary Winstanley, formerly of Lymm, was almost killed after falling into a bath as a toddler.

But for the work and skill of doctors at Booth Hall Children's Hospital, he says he may not have survived.

And, when he decided to walk the Trans Pennine Way, there was nowhere else he wanted the money to go.

The 32-year-old now lives in West London but grew up in the village.

He went to Oughtrington Primary School and Lymm High School.

He has donated almost £5,000 that he raised to the burns unit and praised the work it does.

He said: "I wanted to give children that go there the same chance I had to live a normal life.

"As a teenager, it is very difficult because children can be nasty. But I want to help and particularly for such a worthy cause."

Mr Winstanley started the 14-day walk with dad John in early June - the exact same day as the 30th anniversary of the accident.

He says while he cannot remember everything that happened on that day, it was the aftermath that was also hard to cope with. He was left with 65 per cent burns.

He said: "I have always wanted to do the trail and it was a fantastic experience.

"I was given my last rights as a child but now I have been able to prove you can get over such an accident."