PH Tom Gilzean is recovering from crippling injuries which left him at death's door a few months ago

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The 96-year-old Second World War veteran has become a much-loved figure in Edinburgh after raising hundreds of thousands of pounds for city charities. He has been a fixture on Princes Street or the Royal Mile for almost a decade, shaking his collecting tin while dressed in full Highland regalia.

Widower Tom broke his neck, his back, his shoulder and his ankle when he fell down the stairs outside his flat in early May, leaving him afraid he was about to die. Now, however, the tough former Royal Engineer is well on the road to recovery and says doctors have told him he could be out of hospital by next month. “When it happened I thought I would maybe be dead by the next week,” he said. “I was semi-conscious all the time, coming and going.

“I thought it was all over so I said to myself I’d better do something to get out of here. The first thing I thought of was who would collect the money for my charities? “I love my charities and I love the people of Edinburgh, they are so generous to me. I live and die for Edinburgh.” Speaking from his room at the city’s Liberton Hospital, he added: “I was taking a bag of money to the bank when I fell down the stairs. “I shouted and hollered and the neighbours came running out. I had all my medals on my jacket, including my British Empire Medal and my Legion d’Honneur, so I gave them to my neighbour, George Carlin. He also took the money and my great-granddaughter banked it for me.

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“I never imagined I had broken so many bones. I was on morphine for three weeks in the Royal Infirmary but they don’t have the beds so I’ve been here for nearly six weeks. “The doctors say I could be home by August and I’m hoping to be back in town by September collecting for my charities. My target is to raise £1million to leave to the people of Edinburgh before I go and nothing will stop me.”

GETTY Mr Gilzean has been a fixture on Princes Street or the Royal Mile for almost a decade

Tom, a retired bus driver who began collecting after his wife passed away, has already defied the odds by attending the Queen’s garden party at Holyrood Palace earlier this month. He said: “I was the only one in a wheelchair so it was panic stations. The staff said we’ll take him up in the Queen’s private lift, nobody goes up in it but I did. The Queen said it looked as though I had been in the wars.”

GETTY Mr Gilzean used to be a fixture, shaking his collecting tin while dressed in full Highland regalia

So far, Tom puts his fundraising total at more than £400,000 for charities including the ‘Sick Kids’ hospital and the Edinburgh House Personnel Recovery Centre (PRC). He said: “In the PRC they look after boys with no legs and there is one staff sergeant with two legs and an arm missing. I’m in the same boat now although I’m not as bad as them, I’ve still got my legs and my arms.

“I served in North Africa, Burma, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany without any injuries to speak of, so this is the worst I’ve ever had.” Grandson Ryan Gilzean, 38, said Tom was back to his “cheeky and chirpy” self, adding: “When I first found out he had fallen down the stairs, I thought that could be it to be honest. I went to the hospital and he was fast asleep and he looked terrible, I admit I thought the worst but he has made a miraculous recovery.”

GETTY Mr Gilzean defied the odds by attending the Queen’s garden party at Holyrood Palace just recently