IT was the ultimate holiday from hell.

Mum-of-two Charlaine Wheeler broke her back when she plunged 25ft from a first-floor bedroom window when she was on a family holiday in Spain.

The accident, which Charlaine believes was caused by sleepwalking, split her skull open, shattered two vertebrae and splintered another, leaving the full-time mum in a wheelchair and unable to care for her two young children.

But thanks to volunteers from Southampton-based good neighbour charity Communicare, Charlaine could spend crucial time with her children, two-year-old Josea and five-year-old Deanah, as she was recovering.

Now she has urged people to support this year’s Communicare Tree of Light tomorrow to raise as much cash as possible for the Christian helpers who make life better for people across the city.

Charlaine, 36, of Treeside Road, in Shirley, said: “When the accident happened I was emotionally destroyed. There was one point I thought I would never be able to walk again. The children weren’t allowed in hospital in Spain. It was just horrendous. I’m so thankful, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.” Charlaine’s holiday in June this year turned into a nightmare after she got up in her sleep and fell out the window at 3am.

After hospital treatment in Spain, she was flown back to the UK and spent 10 days at Southampton General Hospital before she could return home.

For weeks her mum looked after the children during the week while her husband Dean was at work and the couple had the children at weekends.

She said: “There was no real follow-up from Southampton General Hospital so I felt like I was alone. It was so scary not having any back up.

“Then a doctor told me about Communicare and they were my saving grace.”

Her Communicare volunteer Claire Littler helped with childcare while Stan Stovell took the children to school and took Charlaine to medical appointments, meaning the mum could be reunited with her children.

She said: “Without them I don’t know what I would have done. As I was getting better I could have my children back for longer. Communicare are like my second family.”

Charlaine was miraculously able to walk with the help of a nurse after eight days. She now has screws in her spine.