'I haven't seen my family in 16 years': Paralysed Lidl worker Lucky 'so grateful' for friends

Lucky Barquez, who is originally from the Philippines but has been living in Dublin since he was 4, was initially paralysed from the neck down following a bike accident.in Co Wicklow sustaining a spinal injury and traumatic head injury is now walking again having spent six months in the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire. Photo: Moya Nolan

A shop worker left paralysed from the neck down after falling off his bike, is flying home to the Philippines today for the first time in 19 years, after learning to walk again.

Lucky Barquez thought his life was over after a horrific crash during a tournament on his mountain bike in the Carrick mountains in Wicklow on September 4, 2022.