Three years after an air crash which had paralysed him from the waist down, Chris Gurney defied the odds to open an aerodrome on his family's farm in north Norfolk.
In 1998, recalling his recovery from that near-fatal event, he said: "I don't know whether your mind blocks you off from the horrors. I put it down to family and friends and for the last 14 years a very understanding wife."
It says a lot about Mr Gurney, who has died aged 71, that the crash did not define his life.
Instead, he will be remembered for his stewardship of Northrepps Aerodrome, in a field near Cromer, where his familiar voice and characteristic humour would greet and guide pilots preparing to land.
Mr Gurney's philosophy was: if you fall off the horse, you get back on.
For some, the fall would have been disastrous, terminal even...
It was in April 1981, he was a passenger in a Tiger Moth biplane with his friend and then Norfolk MEP Paul Howell at the controls. The aircraft was diving at 1,000ft when, without warning, it flicked violently into a roll and crashed into a field in Swanton Morley.
Mr Gurney was paralysed from the waist down and left wheelchair-bound - but it was while recovering from the crash in intensive care, he met the love of his life, Julie Millet.
Over the next three years, she nursed him back to health, her care and devotion literally life-preserving.
And when they got married, Mr Gurney walked down the aisle with the help of callipers and sticks.
READ MORE: Obituary - Former lifeboat coxswain who was 'a hell of a seaman' dies aged 80
Mrs Gurney said: "Chris was unique. Following the crash, he was rehabilitated at a hospital in Sheffield. While there, he was allowed out on occasion.
"The first place he went to was an airfield. He even persuaded the person who used to take him out that he needed to go flying again. And he did. He went flying again, as a passenger, in a light aircraft.
"That takes guts," she said. "He had a marvellous will to live."
READ MORE: Norfolk SAS soldier’s tragic story behind enemy lines revealed in new book
For Mr Gurney, there was no point in sitting at home, feeling sorry for himself, waiting for the ceiling to fall in.
On his family's farm, since the early 1930s, there had been an airfield. Originally it was on a different site and was used as a private strip by Mr Gurney's Uncle Joe, who flew Gipsy Moths.
By the late 1960s, it had moved to a new site, west of the village, and was being used extensively during the establishment of the Bacton gas terminal and as a base for crop sprayers.
When Mr Gurney took over the reins, the airstrip was seeing about 200 flights a year - but just over a decade later, activity had increased to about 1,200 aircraft annually.
His sense of humour was clear in the name he gave the airfield: Northrepps International Airport.
READ MORE: Daughter’s tribute to ‘phenomenal’ 94-year-old entrepreneur, Diana Searby
Bureaucratic regulations meant they had to later change the name to the more sober Northrepps Aerodrome.
Mr Gurney was born in 1952 and grew up on the family farm in Northrepps, before attending school in Wiltshire and Harrow.
He studied farming at Cirencester Agricultural College and also spent a short time in the army.
He was keen on flying from a young age and became a fully-fledged glider pilot at 16. His aviation CV went on to include commercial flying, state-hopping across America and onto South Africa, as well as charter work, ferrying and crop spraying.
A trained meteorologist, Mr Gurney was also known for his daily weather forecasts, which he posted to his followers on Facebook.
His funeral will be held at St Mary’s Church, Northrepps at 2pm on Friday, August 2.
To pay tribute to a loved one, email norfolkobituaries@newsquest.co.uk
To read all obituaries and tributes join the Facebook group Norfolk's Loved & Lost.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here