THE brother of the York teenager who suffered serious injuries following a freak skiing accident, said today he was recovering well.

Jack Robertson, 14, suffered a fractured skull and fractured vertebra after a collision with his friend during a family holiday on the slopes of the Italian Alps.

Jack, who lives in Huntington, was airlifted to an intensive care unit at a Turin hospital, where he remained unconscious for more than 24 hours.

But his brother Will, 17, who flew home with four family friends, said Jack had now been taken off the ventilator and was talking and eating again.

He is expected to be flown home by private medical jet tomorrow with his parents, Steven and Sandra.

"We're all relieved," said Will, who goes to Huntington School with his brother.

"Jack's injuries are not as bad as we first thought.

"We've been told the skull fracture will heal on its own and the doctors will put him in a body cast to mend his back.

"He sounded quite cheerful when I spoke to him and just wants to come home.

"It's a massive relief to us all."

The accident happened when Jack, who was snowboarding, and his friend, who was skiing, collided after going over a bump at the resort of Sestriere, more than 3,000 metres up in the Italian Alps, near the French border.

Staff at a nearby bar called paramedics who raced to the scene and tried to stabilise Jack before calling in a rescue helicopter.

"It was quite scary," Will said.

"I was in front of Jack going down the slope and heard a loud bang when his friend went over the jump. It was obviously a nasty collision.

"I was the first to reach Jack.

"He was awake and crying, saying his head and back hurt a lot.

"Blood was coming out of his ears but I tried to stay strong for him and keep him talking until help arrived.

"The parademics were there in minutes as they had dealt with another accident nearby - that could have saved Jack's life."

The Robertson family have been skiing in Italy for the last four years.

Updated: 08:08 Tuesday, January 08, 2002