Thirty-year-old Thomas Hofer has been unable to move since breaking his neck.

Friends say his terrible injuries occurred at St. Brendan's Hospital where he was treated for a mental disorder.

But the pain-wracked German -- described by a nurse as "looking like somebody from a concentration camp'' -- has no memory of what happened.

Yesterday hospital chiefs revealed a probe was under way.

But executive director of the Bermuda Hospitals Board Mr. Hume Martin was reluctant to comment further.

"We haven't had an official complaint. It is not right for me to speak publicly about a patient's condition without permission from the patient or his family.'' Mr. Martin added, however, the injuries "were a result of actions taken'' by Mr. Hofer.

"We are investigating the matter. It is a matter of routine to carry out an inquiry when unexpected things happen. Certainly this is a serious matter.'' Mr. Hofer was a chef at the Once Upon A Table restaurant in Serpentine Road, Pembroke.

On February 10 he was arrested after entering The Bank of Butterfield on Front Street, claiming to be a killer.

Friends say he was then taken to St. Brendan's Hospital for psychiatric treatment.

"I heard it was for his own safety, and that of the public,'' said Mr.

Gerhard Lipp, a friend and former colleague.

Mr. Lipp said Mr. Hofer had no physical problems before being admitted to St.

Brendan's.

"What I want to know is how he received his injuries, and ended up paralysed,'' he said. "There was just no need for him to end up this way.'' Mr. Lipp, head chef at Once Upon A Table, said his friend had endured appalling pain.

"He has suffered so much pain, he does not feel anything any more.

"He is also paralysed throughout his body, and has no feeling.'' Yesterday a Royal Gazette reporter, accompanied by Mr. Lipp, visited Mr. Hofer in the intensive care unit at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

He looked frail and childlike, with bones protruding from his flesh.

His chin bandaged, a brace was fitted to his neck. Tubes were attached to his arms, and nose.

A nurse explained these were for giving him oxygen and feeding him.

"We have become so concerned that he hasn't been eating. He looks like somebody in a concentration camp,'' she said.

She said Mr. Hofer's neck had broken -- although the reasons for the injury were unknown.

He had undergone an operation to mend the break with bone from another part of his body, she added.

With the help of a straw, Mr. Lipp fed his friend and chatted to him intermittently in German.

Every so often, his friend rolled his eyes.

Said Mr. Lipp: "It's terrible to see him do that -- it's almost as if he is going to die.

"He is just so thin. He now weighs 103 pounds -- before he weighed about 170 pounds.

"He is naturally a very strong person, and is determined to live. It is that which has enabled him to survive.'' Mr. Lipp said this was his friend's second visit to King Edward since being admitted to St. Brendan's.

"He was treated for a chin injury -- but the doctor did not realise he was paralysed at the time.

"I find that just incredible. Thomas needed emergency treatment right away, but did not get it.'' Mr. Lipp is now considering legal action, and has contacted lawyer Mr. Julian Hall.

Mr. Hall said yesterday he would be looking into the case.

"On the surface, it seems very disturbing,'' he said.