Doctors are amazed he has escaped without paralysis

Pitched his tent at at Gallanach, near Oban to look at the view but was disorientated in the darkness and tumbled over the edge

He managed to crawl for an agonising 40 minutes to get help with a shattered spine and punctured lung

at the bottom of the cliff for four hours

A camper in pursuit of a great view was nearly killed after choosing a precarious spot to pitch his tent.

Steven Hill, 42, set up camp on the edge of a 120 foot cliff at Gallanach near Oban on Scotland's west coast.

But on waking up disorientated in the dark after dozing off after stepping outside his tent to roll a cigarette, the painter and decorator tumbled over the edge - breaking 112 bones.

Shattered: Steven Hill ended up with a 112 broken bones, and a punctured lung. Above, Mr Hill's shattered spine, repaired with titanium rods, bolts and screws

'I fell asleep on the grass. I woke up ratty and was scrabbling around. The next thing I knew I had the sensation of increasing velocity. I could feel myself brushing against things,' he said.

Mr Hill lay unconscious for four hours at the bottom of the cliff before he came round and embarked on an agonising 40 minute crawl to the nearest road.

He then spent two hours trying to flag down somebody to help.

He was ignored by at least one driver, but luckily two cyclists came to his aid and called for an ambulance.

Paramedics took him to Lorn and Islands Hospital, Oban, but his injuries were so severe he was quickly airlifted to The Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries Unit in Glasgow.

He spent weeks in hospital and is now recovering at home after doctors fixed his shattered spine using titanium rods, bolts and screws.

Lucky: Doctors were amazed that Steven HIll, 42, didn't suffer paralysis despite the amount of broken bones. The painter and decorated says he feels like the luckiest man alive and was conscious as he fell 120 foot down a cliff at Gallanach, near Oban on Scotland's west coast

Disoriented: Mr Hill woke up after falling asleep outside his tent and stumbled in the dark before tumbling down the cliff. He was unconscious for four hours before crawling for 40 minutes to the road to flag down help

Reliving his brush with death, he said: 'I'm the luckiest man alive. I had never been in an accident in my life before this. People can't believe how lucky I was. I was conscious the whole way down until impact.'

Steven lived in Oban for around 20 years and came to love the cliff at Gallanach.

He often visited the remote spot to clear his head, relax and enjoy the view.

Doctors were amazed at the number of bones he broke but, despite the injuries to his spine, he didn't suffer paralysis.

He was fitted with a brace around his torso and a metal cage called a 'halo' to support his head while his spine recovers.

Steven said people can't believe what happened when he tells them.

'I've had guys calling me Robocop' and stuff,' he said.

'I just tell them it's too sore to laugh.'

Simon Glen, from head injury charity Headway Glasgow, said: 'It can take people a long time to recover. It can often be a long road.'