Michael Dexter, of Orchard Drive, Oswaldtwistle, has received an out-of-court payout following a six-year legal fight with East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.

Michael, now 58, had taken a c**ktail of around 100 pills with rum and cola one morning in December 2002.

He was rushed to Blackburn Royal Infirmary after his wife Stephanie and young sons Martin and Trevor returned home to find he had overdosed.

His legal team argued that after arriving at A&E unconscious, Michael was given at least four times the correct dose of neutralising drugs - causing severe tissue damage to his right arm, which he described as "third degree burns".

He said: "I know they saved my life but if you went in with a heart attack you wouldn't expect to leave with a limb you can't use.

"I had to go to a burns specialist for plastic surgery. They removed tendons from the wrist and I have had three skin grafts. "There are not many people who come out of hospital worse than when they went in." Michael's depression stemmed from having left a job of 23 years as an engineer for British Airways in order to move north.

He recalled: "I thought I had made a big mistake by moving up here. Some people do it to seek attention but I very much wanted to kill myself. I was quite ill."

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