Bodybuilder Phil Walker, who a year ago was left close to death after suffering a stroke, has beaten the odds by fighting back to fitness and will take part in a competition in London on Sunday.

Mr Walker, 34, from Winsley, was left paralysed after he collapsed while training last June.

He had to undergo immediate surgery and had 52 staples put in his head.

He said: “I was so scared after suffering the stroke.

“The doctors said there’s a good chance I could be paralysed for life or I might not come through it at all.

“I can remember my wife saying do I want to write something to my kids, but I thought I’m going to get through it, I’m going to survive.

“In my first week of physio after my operation standing up from a bench felt like it took more effort than running a half marathon.

“I started trying to walk again on the parallel bars, I remember after a couple of days getting to the other side but I couldn’t make it back.

“I remember then trying to walk 10 metres, then 20 metres but the effort it took wiped me out for the day.

“What I found most difficult was the concentration needed to take a step and after I’d taken it then thinking what do I need to do next. Bring my leg up, bend my knee and take another step forward.

“Just doing that had become harder than lifting 200lbs at the gym.

“You don’t remember taking your first steps as a baby, but I remember taking my first steps again as an adult.

“I lost a lot of weight from lying in bed and not being able to exercise.

“I could see myself in the mirror and my body was just disappearing every day which is very depressing.”

But Mr Walker, who has three young children, was determined to get fit again and hopes he will be an inspiration to others who face gruelling rehabilitation.

On Sunday he will take part in the UK FAME (Fitness Model and bodybuilding championship) at The Scala.

He will be cheered on by his wife Sarah, children Jacob, 15, Amelia, nine and Angel, eight.

Mr Walker devised his own Rocky 4-style outdoor weight lifting regime using trees, logs and anything he can get his hands on in his back garden.

He said: “I started to plan my own training regime and work out progressively increasing the amount I was doing each time. The training now is harder than it ever was before.

“I’m using bodybuilding as therapy to help me recover my confidence but if I have to do any mental tasks or challenges I feel completely and utterly wiped out. People think I look normal now but inside it is still such a struggle.”

Mr Walker was a fitness manager in Swindon but now wants to start his own personal training business.