AN inspirational father-of-three who was confined to a wheelchair after a fall on holiday has passed away suddenly.

Andy Slater, of Millam Way, Braintree, suffered life changing injuries after stepping on an outflow pipe while on a family holiday in 2016.

He was paralysed from the neck down, but rather than let his accident dictate his life, Mr Slater began working with his close family to get his life back on track.

Andy was taken to a hospital in Haywoods Heath in Sussex where he was given an MRI scan and had his head stitched.

It was then he found out his spinal cord was pinched and he had to have metal plates inserted in his spine.

Andy spent a month in St George’s Hospital and another two months in Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, where he started physio and had his first experience in a manual wheelchair.

In total Mr Slater spent nearly 18 months in hospital after the accident, including at specialist spinal injury centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.

With the help of Greenfields Community Housing, Andy and his family secured a specially-adapted bungalow in Braintree where they lived.

Despite coming to terms with the fact he would never walk again, Andy maintained his positive outlook on life.

Hundreds of tributes have been posted on Mr Slater’s Facebook page, including a message from his family.

It reads: “As some of you are aware Andy sadly passed away on Sunday evening. We are still waiting for the coroner’s report as it all happened very suddenly.

“Thank you for the kind words and messages, please bear with all the family at this sad time and will be in touch when we have an update.”

Friends and relatives have been leaving heartfelt messages on Mr Slater’s Facebook wall, calling him among other things a “gentleman”, “an inspiration” and a “prankster”.

‘Skit’ as he was known is survived by wife denise and his three children.

The cause of Mr Slater’s death is unknown.