A GAMEKEEPER feels lucky to be alive after he used a chainsaw to free himself when he was trapped by a tree.

Keiron Robbins, aged 34, was left screaming in agony in the middle of woodland after the 90ft tree fell on his legs.

Luckily, he had his chainsaw to hand and was able to free himself to ring for help.

He said: "If that chainsaw wasn't there, I wouldn't be here."

Mr Robbins had been trying to cut the tree down because it was blocking a path, in Catchems End woodland, Abberley.

But when he tried to saw through the wood it snapped and slammed into him.

He said: "It flew back like a boomerang. It hit me in the chest. If that tree came up another half a foot it would have killed me.

"I was screaming for help in the middle of the wood but no one knew I was there. All of the tree's weight was on my left leg.

"If that chainsaw wasn't there I wouldn't be here. Luckily enough the saw was to hand. I'm a very lucky boy.

"Instinct kicked in and I got the saw. I started the saw as close as I could to the leg to take the pressure off. It got stuck a couple of times but brute force kicked in."

Mr Robbins, of Stud Lane, Abberley, near Worcester, added that it took two or three minutes to cut a chunk of the tree off his legs, although he said it felt like a lifetime.

He then freed the leg and pulled his phone out of his left pocket to call for help.

It had switched off while it was trapped under the tree but he managed to turn it back on and contact the landowner, Dicky Jeavons-Fellows, whose wife, Sally, came to help him.

Mrs Jeavons-Fellows, who works as a nurse, arrived at the scene within 15 minutes and checked Mr Robbins' vital signs.

The part-time gamekeeper tried to stand up but found that his right ankle, which had been caught under the tree, felt like jelly.

Paramedics got to the woodland roughly 10 minutes later and gave Mr Robbins some morphine to ease his pain.

"I had my two springer spaniels, Teal and Snipe, with me... the one dog to my right shoulder was pawing me every two seconds, saying, you know, 'come on boss get up'," he said.

As we previously reported the accident happened at about 10.30am last Tuesday.

Mr Robbins was stretchered to a helicopter and flown to Worcestershire Royal Hospital, where doctors found that he had broken his ankle in two places.

He left hospital on Friday morning, following surgery, and is now at home recovering.

Mr Robbins wants to thank the emergency services, the staff at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, and his sister, Shelly, for their kindness.

Related: Trapped man cuts himself free with chainsaw