A Portland man who owes his life to the coastguard helicopter spoke out today against plans to axe the service.

Steve Forder, who was airlifted to hospital after a horrific accident with an angle grinder, said the decision to get rid of the helicopter ‘shouldn’t be allowed’.

The Echo revealed yesterday how Transport Secretary Justine Greening would not be bowing to pressure over the future of the Portland Coastguard helicopter.

The contract for an island-based aircraft will not be renewed in 2017 after Miss Greening told South Dorset MP Richard Drax in a letter she was convinced the closure ‘would not increase the risk of loss of life’.

Mr Forder, 49, said he owed his life to the Portland helicopter crew and paramedics following his accident in 2008 when an angle grinder sliced into the left side of his body and into his bowel.

He said: “Think how many lives the helicopter has saved. It shouldn’t be allowed.”

He added: “The government doesn’t seem to care about anybody’s lives – it’s just money they want to look at.”

The motorbike instructor said he was lucky to be alive after his accident, when the angle grinder he had been using to take apart a bed in his house kicked back.

The blade cut into his left side and down into his bowels close to his liver but bounced off a rib.

Paramedics and the ambulance service were called to Mr Forder’s Weston Road home and it was agreed that he should be airlifted to Dorset County Hospital.

He reached the emergency landing pad and the awaiting medical team within minutes.

Mr Forder said: “If the helicopter had come from Southampton, which I believe takes about 40 minutes to fly, I wouldn’t be here now.

“When I got there I was on an operating table for nearly three hours.”

He lost three litres of blood, had 260 stitches inside and 90 staples outside.

Mr Forder said he wanted to thank everyone that helped him and would be supporting the fight to save the helicopter.

He said: “If it wasn’t for those guys and that helicopter I wouldn’t be here now.”

He added: “I don’t understand the government. They can’t be thinking of human lives, they must be thinking of the money.”

Mr Forder added that the decision didn’t seem to be in keeping with the government’s plans for the area in the run up to the Olympics.

He said: “They are turning it into the national sailing area for the country and taking away the helicopter.

“It doesn’t make sense.”

• CAMPAIGNERS across Dorset, including South Dorset MP Richard Drax, have vowed to fight on against the government’s decision.

County and Bridport town councillor Karl Wallace wants to meet with Mr Drax to plot the way ahead.

He said that sponsorship of the helicopter by a major business and a toll on large shipping and freight in the Channel could offer funding opportunities.

He added: “Through sponsorship we would be able to keep the service going.

“We have the busiest shipping lanes – we need to provide a first class emergency service.”