A man phoned his wife as he lay in the wreckage of an horrific motorbike accident to tell her he thought he was about to die.

Josh Lawler called his wife Sarah to say "I love you", thinking these would be his last words to her as blood poured from a gaping wound in his left leg after the crash. But Sarah, 32, begged him to stay alive, words which he says bolstered his will to survive.

Medics say Josh, 36, saved his own life after the accident by reaching into the wound to stem the blood.

Surgeons later had to amputate his leg but said he would have died if he had not plugged the wound.

He spoke of the terrifying moment yesterday as the couple prepared to move back into their home in Eastbourne Road, Lower Willingdon, following building work to adapt the house for Josh's wheelchair.

The couple are now looking forward to celebrating Christmas together back at home after living in temporary accommodation for months while the work was carried out.

Josh's bike was in a collision with a car on June 12, in Pelham Rise, Peacehaven, as he rode home after a day watching superbikes at Brands Hatch with friends.

He told how he gripped an artery in his leg to stop himself losing blood.

With the other hand he called Sarah on his mobile phone to tell her he thought he was dying.

He said: "I phoned Sarah and told her I had had an accident and had broken my leg. I said I didn't know if I was going to make it and if I didn't, I wanted her to know I had always loved her.

"It was the sort of things you would say to someone you love dearly.

"I really did not think I was going to survive. I had to be the one to tell her because I knew she would be really worried.

"Hearing her telling me to hang on in there and that everything was going to be okay and we would get through it helped me. Thinking about it now makes me well up."

Sarah, a BUPA training and development consultant, said: "It was 6pm and I was just pottering around the house getting ready for work the next day when I got a phone call from him.

"He didn't think he was going to make it and he wanted me to hear it from him rather than someone else. I was saying, 'Don't talk like that. I can't go on without you,' and he told me he would try and hang on.

"He told me later that hearing me helped keep himself alive.

"He can remember everything up until arriving at the hospital, then he knew there was nothing more he could do and let go.

"We didn't know whether to have his leg amputated or not but then he contracted MRSA and so the decision was almost made for us.

"The doctors said he would have been begging them to take if off anyway as the pain would have been so bad.

"We can't wait to move back in and relax - we will love the house and being together again. I told Josh I haven't bought him a Christmas present because I can't afford it after all the money we've had to spend. Having him will be my present."

Josh said: "Moving back in will be a milestone for us. It has been pretty intense, a bit like Challenge Anneka trying to get everything done, but we should be in for Christmas. We will be able to relax and get back to normal as much as possible."

The couple have had to spend £30,000 on alterations to their bungalow. The front door has been widened and a utility room, which was being built before the accident, has been turned into a large bathroom with a hydrotherapy bath.

Before the accident Josh lectured part time at South Downs College in Lewes and had started his own business as a plumber.

The couple have now turned their attentions towards raising money to buy a computerised leg which will be more comfortable than Josh's current NHS one.

They raised £5,000 towards their £16,000 goal when Sarah walked the Beachy Head marathon in October.

They also hope to complete the Inca Trail in Peru in September in aid of the Limbless Association.

To make a donation, quote Best Foot Forward and reference number 0307/703862187 in any branch of Nationwide.