A young man who suffered a severe brain injury after a 40ft lorry crushed his skull against a wall says he can still remember the sound of his head crunching and eardrums popping.

Now 23-year-old Simon Mason, from Romford, is launching a legal battle to get his former employer Tuffnells Parcels Express to pay up for his traumatic injuries.

The company was already fined �150,000 by the Health and Safety Executive last month for health and safety breaches.

But lorry unloader Simon says he still hasn’t received a penny and wants compensation for the accident that left him with a blood clot to the brain, three fractures, damaged facial nerves, Bell’s Palsy and a popped ear drum.

Speaking to the Recorder this week, Simon recalled the horrific accident at the depot in West Horndon in March last year. He said: “I had been unloading a 40ft lorry when I thought it had stopped and stuck my head behind it to tell the driver to straighten up.

“He got stuck in a pot hole and reversed into me, crushing my head against the wall.”

Simon was off work for ten months while he underwent operations on his skull and face and was cared for by his mum and girlfriend.

He said: “I’m lucky to be alive. After it happened I couldn’t eat, speak or walk, it was terrifying. I had to have surgery on my nerves and ear damage, and again on a blood clot that developed on my brain. Now I get severe migraines, which doctors expect will continue for the rest of my life.”

Tuffnells pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety laws at Chelmsford Crown Court last month.

It was fined �150,000 and ordered to pay court costs of �19,000.

When contacted by the Recorder the company refused to comment.