INJURED MP Graham Stuart is planning to return to Westminster next week, almost two months after he was seriously hurt in a skiing accident.
The Beverley and Holderness MP injured his pelvis, fractured several ribs and punctured a lung in a fall during a weekend skiing trip with friends in France.
After undergoing almost five hours of surgery at Hull Royal Infirmary to fit plates in his fractured pelvis last month, the Tory MP has been working from his home in Beverley.
He is keeping mobile by using a wheelchair and crutches to get around and, on Saturday, he will be undertaking his first public engagement since his accident.
Mr Stuart is then hoping to return to Westminster on Monday.
He said: "I am going to be wheelchair-bound for the next two and a bit months.
"There are disabled members of Parliament but I am told it is not as wheelchair- friendly as you might hope. Nonetheless, it's doable.
"I shall be able to go into the chamber. A disabled MP who is wheelchair-bound sits in front of the front bench, where the Lib Dems are, so I will be able to do the same."
Mr Stuart, chairman of the Government's influential education select committee, has been tackling his constituency and Parliamentary work from home as he recuperates.
He said: "I am pretty much grounded at home and told to rest up.
"It's just a case of waiting for the bones to knit back together in my hip.
"My ribs and lung are fine. There is a bit of discomfort occasionally."
Mr Stuart, who is a keen cyclist, is exercising at home on a spinning machine to build up his strength as he recuperates.
He said: "I am trying to keep fit and stop myself wasting away.
"A friend has brought me a spinning machine and I am managing to do some exercise on it.
"It hurts a bit but I feel a lot more motivated by being able to get some exercise."
Mr Stuart's first public engagement following his skiing accident in Chamonix will be in Withernsea on Saturday.
He has organised a CPR training day as part of his campaign to improve emergency response times.
