'He was not the same person after the accident'

Alexander Laing, 31, was shown on Channel 4's Mindshock programme on Monday night after the accident caused frontal lobe brain damage that made him lose all his inhibitions about sex.

His mother-in-law Deryth, 71, and father Tony Laing, 60, from Altona Road, Loudwater, have spoken about how the family coped after the distressing incident.

Mrs Laing said: "He was not the same person after the accident. There are many things that are the same, like his great sense of humour, but other parts are very different."

The damage affected Alexander's personality and made him lose all his inhibitions about sex. Alexander went to live with his parents, but his sexual behaviour made things difficult. He ran up a large bill viewing internet pornography and had to spend a night in a cell after walking through a hotel naked. He is now prescribed a beta-blocker to calm this part of his personality.

Mrs Laing said: "Whenever he sees a girl on her own he has to make a beeline for her and introduce himself. It is harmless but we tell him not to be so forward. We would dearly love for him to settle down with a nice girl and get married. But she would have to be very patient with him."

The accident in 2000 occurred while Alexander was serving with the Army Air Corps. He was competing against other soldiers to make the skiing team when he hit a bump and fell. His father said: "He was thrown like a rag doll down the mountainside and hit his head several times."

The rate of Alexander's recovery has astounded his parents, who were told that after two years he would show no further signs of improvement. But Alexander now has his own flat in Milton Keynes and lives a relatively normal life, although it is unlikely he will work full-time.