In 2016 I participated in the Great North Run, after 13.1 miles crossing the finish line instead of feeling proud of myself, all I wanted to do was burst into tears and go find medical help. 

Soon I was being transported to Tyneside Hospital not being able to move from the waist down, after spending a week in hospital with multiple MRI scans and specialist visits. I was discharged from hospital with a diagnosis making me believe there was something psychologically wrong with me and it was my brain. 

Along with my mum we sought our own medical advice finally coming along a spinal specialist who told me it was not in my head but that at 17 years old, two prolapsed discs, an open fracture and spinal cord damage. It would take determination and strength through inversion therapy and physiotherapy, to relieve the pressure and gain function of my legs.

Over three months I was finally able to walk. I was one of the lucky ones, 12,500 people suffer from a new spinal injury every year, 1 in 50 people live with paralysis. Spinal Research is the UK’s leading charity funding medical research around the world to develop effective treatments for paralysis caused by spinal cord injury. Every year 1,000 people in the UK and Ireland are paralysed following an injury to their spinal cord. they receive no government funding and rely entirely on the support of the public to raise funds for their research. Because of the efforts of supporters, they have funded innovative medical research that has achieved a number of ground breaking changes in the field.

After three years of trying this year is the year and I will be cycling to Paris in August 2022. It has been a tough three years of treatment and covid however I am now pain free and back to competing in sport. This will be one of the biggest challenges I have undertaken and any donation would be greatly appreciated!