GRAND NATIONAL horse owner Dai Walters is out of intensive care and recovering at home after a terrifying helicopter crash.
The multi-millionaire Welsh businessman was travelling in a chopper with trainer Sam Thomas when it came down in woodland last November.
Walters, who has a runner in the Grand National, is out of intensive care and recovering at home
Miraculously none of the five on board died but Thomas, 77, was moved to intensive care at Glan Clwyd hospital in Rhyl.
Thomas confirmed Walters, whose horse Our Power is set to run in the Aintree showpiece next Saturday, is now home with his family.
The Cardiff-based trainer said: “It’s been tough for him and the family, but he’s at home recovering now and everything is certainly going the right way.
“He enjoys his racing and seeing the horses running and it gives me more of an incentive to try to do well with the horses at home.
“Everything is going the right way though and I can’t imagine what it would mean to him for it all to go well, dare I say.
“I think he’ll be watching from home with his family.”
The helicopter came down minutes after taking off in dense woodland near Ruthin in Wales.
An ex-Forces passerby gave Walters gave CPR and Thomas helped salvage the much-loved owner from the wreckage amid a ‘huge’ rescue operation.
The plant machinery tycoon was said to be conscious and talking to his family in hospital.
But Walters’ daughter Sarah Llewellyn said in the days after the crash doctors were taking it ‘day-by-day’ as her father lay in intensive care.
Thomas’ update is welcome news to the racing community that respects the prominent owner so much.
Walters owns 20-1 Our Power with James and Jean Potter.
Thomas, who won the Gold Cup on Denman, says victory after all they have been through would be ‘beyond anything any of us could imagine’.
He added: “It’s a fairytale to have a runner with a chance in a race of such magnitude.
“Even being in the parade ring with all the buzz and hype is going to be an incredible feeling.
“For all the money the Potters and Dai invest into the sport, it’s only fair they have a good chance in a race on the biggest stage.”
