Adam Woodyatt is "so proud" of his son taking part in a cheerleading world championships - less than two years after he was mowed down by a car doing 56mph.

Adam Woodyatt

Adam Woodyatt

The 'EastEnders' actor has praised the 19-year-old star for competing at the Cheerleading Worlds event in Orlando, Florida, just 19 months after he was struck by a motor, putting him in an induced coma and leaving him with a head injury, a fractured vertebrae and a shattered pelvis.

Adam wrote on Twitter: "We are all so proud of @SamJWoodyatt

19 months ago he got hit by a car at 56mph, somehow he survived. He was put in an induced coma by @LDNairamb and spent 8 weeks in a wheelchair. His recovery never ceases to amaze us... Tonight he is taking part in #CheerWorlds2018 (sic)"

Adam - who plays Walford businessman Ian Beale in the BBC One soap - praised his son as "miraculous" last year after he took part in the London Marathon, just seven months after undergoing a five-hour operation to rebuild his pelvis following the car smash.

He said: "It has been pretty miraculous and then he goes and runs this in four hours and 24 minutes. It was brilliant."

Adam also took part in the race but was almost three hours behind his son with a time of seven hours.

The soap actor also has 25-year-old daughter Jessica with wife Beverley Sharp, and his on-screen mother Gillian Taylforth (Kathy Beale) recently revealed she calls her "nana".

Gillian said: "I absolutely love the bones of Adam, I adore him. He's always been there and always supported me.

"Even when I wasn't in 'EastEnders', we'd keep in touch. I knew he was rooting for me to come back, he kept coming up with different storylines.

"And he's always called me mum - and I've always called him son or Sonny Jim. His daughter calls me nana! Adam is a lovely person, and a wonderful actor."

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