A FORMER councillor who suffered a catastrophic brain injury in a freak accident at his Lake District holiday park has ‘miraculously’ woken up from a coma, his family have said.

Danny Gallagher, former Liberal Democrat leader at Preston Council, was left fighting for his life after a fall at Crake Valley Park on February 9.

After a week of fearing the worst, Mr Gallagher’s daughter Daniella said that her father has now come out of a coma.

The 56-year-old, who stood as the Lib Dem candidate for Copeland in 2015, stepped down as a councillor in 2012 to begin a new life in the Lakes with his wife.

The pair manage Crake Valley at Lake Bank, on the edge of Coniston Water.

Daniella, 32, said Mr Gallagher was working at the site when the accident happened.

“He was coming down some steps, missed one, fell and incurred a severe injury to the left side of his head,” she said.

“After being airlifted to Royal Preston Hospital he was in a coma for a couple of days and things were really looking quite bleak.

“We were meeting with doctors and didn’t know whether he was going to be coming round, but as we were having these conversations he opened his eyes.

“Over the last couple of days he’s shown a degree of progress which is not what we were expecting at all.”

Still at Royal Preston Hospital, Mr Gallagher is now off ventilation tubes and has been moved onto a longer term neurological ward.

Mr Gallagher’s wife Karina and elder daughters Daniella and Gemma, 33, have stayed by his bedside, and say they are ‘emotional and overjoyed’ at his progress.

Said Daniella: “Considering where we were last week it feels like nothing short of a miracle – given the extent of the damage he shouldn’t be with us.

“We’re taking each day as it comes now, we don’t know to what extent he’s going to recover so it’s about getting his quality of life back.”

Mr Gallagher also has an eight-year-old stepdaughter and a two-year-old son, as well as six granddaughters.

He was a councillor for 15 years and a champion for charities including Recycling Lives and the Alzheimers Society.