Robert Spencer came across picture of his injured stepson while reading reports on the Santiago de Compostela crash
The stepfather of the only Briton injured in Spain's worst train disaster for decades has spoken of his shock at seeing photos of him staggering away from the wreckage.
Mark Woodward, 38, originally from Mansfield, was treated in intensive care for a broken pelvis and ribs and has had his spleen removed, the BBC reported.
He was among 168 passengers injured in the derailment just outside Santiago de Compostela on Wednesday night, which left 78 dead.
Robert Spencer told the BBC his stepson, who lives in Galicia with his Spanish wife and daughter, remains in hospital.
He described how he was reading news reports of the event when he came across a photograph of his stepson at the scene flanked by two people, covered in blood with a ripped shirt.
"That was a shocking thing to see," he told the BBC. "Grateful that he was apparently walking OK and alive, but still a shock.
"There was blood all over them, a huge gash on his stomach and his head had been really bashed about."
Woodward was injured when he was thrown forwards over the seat in front of him, hitting his head.
Spencer said his wife had flown to Spain to be with her son and he was "just glad" Woodward's daughter had not been travelling with him on the train.
He said Woodward's mother was an experienced nurse, "so she's seen worse, she says. But she's not seen her son in that situation."
She told him Mark had "tubes everywhere" and his head was "bandaged up all over".