Health chiefs are investigating a case in which a 40 year old gardener was sent back home from a health care unit with painkillers as doctors were not able to identify a broken neck.

Darren Langabeer has said that he could have been "paralysed for life" after the hospital workers failed to spot his broken neck and provide adequate treatment. The father of three children was taken to the hospital after he was attacked in his home in Llanelli, South Wales earlier this month.

Doctors at the Glangwili General Hospital sent him home after conducting some scans and stating that he has a trapped nerve. He returned to the hospital with numbness in his arms and then the doctors realized that he has a broken arm and needs medical attention. He has been recovering at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff since one week and has been asked not to work or drive for the next thee months.

"The doctor told me I could have been paralysed and was lucky to be walking. They rushed me straight to the spinal unit and I had to have an operation to fix my neck, "I'm only 40, and with a young family I was really scared to death. I could have been left in a wheelchair for the rest of my life - how would my family cope?" said Langabeer.

Hywel Dda Local Health Board said that a full investigation is ongoing and thus did not offer any comments on the case.