A firefighter who returned to work after breaking his neck in a road collision has been shortlisted for a bravery award.

Mick Titmarsh, 45, a watch commander at Shipley fire station, snapped two vertebrae when he cycled into the back of a coach on January 5 last year.

Now, after making a remarkable recovery and returning to work ten months later, Mr Titmarsh is up against three firefighters from Bolton, Cornwall and Merseyside for The Fire Fighters Charity’s Beneficiary of Courage accolade in the organisation’s Spirit of Fire Awards.

He praised the work of The Fire Fighters Charity in helping him recover from his devastating injuries. His treatment included two weeks in Penrith at one of the charity’s rehabilitation centres.

“They were instrumental in getting me back to work,” said Mr Titmarsh. “I want to shout from the rooftops how good they were.”

On being shortlisted, Mr Titmarsh said: “I feel great about it, although I have done nothing but try to get back to work. I don’t feel I have done anything special.” Mr Titmarsh was on his way to work when he ploughed into a coach that had suddenly stopped at a roundabout on Wakefield Road in Bradford.

After intense treatment that included a metal head brace being screwed into his skull, Mr Titmarsh returned to work and “modified duties” after six months. It was another four months before he returned to full duty.

On his injury, Mr Titmarsh said: “It was fairly severe and it has been a bit of a rollercoaster of a ride.”

Mr Titmarsh was nominated for the award by Peter Lau, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s assistant district manager for Bradford.

Dom Furby, of Birkenshaw is shortlisted in the Supporter of the Year category, while West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, which has its headquarters in Birkenshaw, Bradford, is nominated for Fire Service of the Year.

Mr Titmarsh’s category, Beneficiary of Courage, is “awarded to a member of the fire and rescue service community who has shown bravery and strength of character in the face of adversity”.