A WAR veteran who shattered his pelvis in the 1940s after falling overboard while in the Navy has celebrated turning 90 — by pumping iron in the gym.

Harold Wareing, who still lives in the Openshaw Drive home he bought for £5,500 in 1972, spent the day before his 90th birthday lifting weights at the Waves Water fun centre in Blackburn town centre yesterday.

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Mr Wareing said: “I feel tremendous when I come to the gym because when I get out of the house it makes me feel good. It gives me something to look forward to.”

It was serving on a tanker in the Philippines in the Navy in 1944 that Mr Wareing had his accident.

Although he does not remember how, he said he fell overboard into the captain’s boat, breaking his pelvis.

“I had to board a hospital ship and was told that if I ever walked again I had to keep my upper body in good health,” he said.

“That’s why I come to the gym.”

The accident did not stop Mr Wareing from enjoying his life.

He married his late wife Joyce and the pair had three daughters together, Christine Alison, Heather Rose, and Joy Anne Marie.

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After starting his working life at Newman’s Slipper Works as an apprentice fitter, Mr Wareing went on to work at Thwaites and as a bus driver for Blackburn with Darwen Council for 17 years before his retirement in 1988.

His wife died last August after 55 years of marriage.

Although Mr Wareing uses crutches to get around, he still visits the gym, near Blackburn College, several times a week for his hourly workout.

He uses the weight resistance machines to help keep his upper body nice and trim.

Gym instructor Megan Ellison, 22, presented Mr Wareing with balloons and a gift during his workout session yesterday, while other gym-goers also wished him a happy birthday.

Megan said: “Harold comes here two or three times a week and usually exercises for about an hour each time. He trains with the help of our instructors Kevin and Lee but he is insistent on doing things himself.”