Experience: I watched my dad die – and then come back to life

I ran to him and held his hand; it was tense but there was no pulse. Then I felt it relax. There were no signs of life

I grew up on a working farm in Shropshire and often helped my dad. On a summer's day three years ago, I helped him cut up a large oak. A dealer had taken the trunk away, leaving the limbs. That morning we set off to chop up the remnants. Wood gets heavier the longer it sits on the ground and this had been there for a couple of months, in sections weighing around two tonnes each. They were stacked on top of each other with a big 70ft limb, known as a lodger, sticking up in the air.

I was standing about 10 metres away from the tree with my back to my dad, making a bonfire with the branches, when I heard a faint gasp. I turned around to see that the lodger had fallen on to my dad's back, crushing him against a branch below. I ran to him and held his hand; it was tense but there was no pulse. Then I felt it relax. There were no signs of life.