Brit radio DJ left in coma after sleepwalking off 80ft balcony in Malta

A DJ who sleepwalked off an 80ft balcony while on holiday said he is 'lucky to be alive' after waking from a coma.

Paul Cartwright plunged from his hotel room in Malta where he was celebrating his 45th birthday with his girlfriend.

The father-of-two suffered 28 broken bones in the fall and says the last thing he remembers was smoking a cigarette on the balcony before plummeting onto the concrete below.

His fall also left him with a fractured neck, a smashed pelvis, a broken femur and foot as well as internal bleeding and cracked ribs.

Paul, a DJ on London-based radio station MuusicFM, said his girlfriend Danielle Hickey found him after getting up in the middle of the night.

He spent two-and-a-half weeks in an induced coma after his fall on Thursday August 15.


Paul was finally airlifted from Malta back to to Biggin Hill airport last Saturday, racking up an air ambulance bill of more than £20,000 on the way.

Speaking from his bed at Kings College Hospital, London, Paul said his ambition is to learn how to walk again unaided – and he has started a fundraiser to help with rehabilitation costs.

He said: "I was having a good read and that's all I can remember.

"I was out on holiday with the love of my life and bosh – it could happen to anybody.

"I'm lucky to be alive."

Paul believes his history of sleepwalking caused the freak accident.


The dad of twin girls, who turned 10 on the day he landed back in the UK, said he was not drunk and would not self-harm.

He said: "I love my girls. I'm happy – I'm alive to be a dad to my beautiful daughters.

"They have been my guiding light through this.

"I told myself I am not going to die like this and they kept coming into my mindset.

Bur he has not lost his sense of humour, despite his injuries and having part of his bowel removed.

Laughing from his hospital bed, he said: "I'm a Marvel superhero now.

"I had never even broken one bone before this….but now I've broken 28 in one go.


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