My life support was almost switched off – then a nurse spotted something

It’s hard to put into words exactly what I was feeling at that moment.

Within a few minutes of posing in a bodybuilding competition, I was announced the winner.

I was over the moon. All my hard work had paid off. I’d accomplished what I thought I would have never been able to – only four years after coming perilously close to having my life support switched off.

In April 2018 I was involved in a huge car accident.

I don’t remember anything about it, but apparently, I was going around a roundabout at night and got onto the main road. 

I had travelled on it hundreds of times and knew it well but my car suddenly swerved onto the other side of the road. I spun around and was hit at the back by another car coming in the opposite direction.

This then launched me into a bus stop.

An investigation later concluded that, as I’d gone around the roundabout my E-cigarette fell off the dashboard and I must have undone my seatbelt and attempted to retrieve it, inadvertently spinning my steering wheel around and into the other car. 

At the scene, a local man had rushed out of his house to clear my airway as I was choking on blood. I still don’t know who this person was but I have always wanted to meet him and thank him.

I was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary where I received treatment for brain injuries and a broken rib. 

The impact of the collision caused my brain to swell, which meant I had to have  the front part of my skull removed – to relieve the pressure.

But I had likely suffered brain damage, so was put into a coma in the ICU to see if I might recover. 

After three weeks, I showed no signs of life. It was presumed I may be brain dead and was being kept alive on machines.

That’s when doctors took my mother into a side room and said that, if I showed no signs of recovery over the following days, she would have to make the awful decision on whether or not to switch off my life support.

My mother was in complete shock and called all my immediate family, so they’d have a chance to say their goodbyes.

But during that evening, miraculously a nurse spotted that I had twitched my little finger, and later that night, my right arm slightly moved.

Now, instead of turning off my machines and effectively ending my life, doctors started to slowly bring me out of my coma.

Waking up wasn’t like we often see on TV. Over the following week, I made more purposeful movements with my right arm and I opened my eyes for a split second before drifting back off.

The next three months were undoubtedly hard work. I had to relearn everything again but was gradually able to talk, read and write, feed myself and pull myself up from my wheelchair.

At this point my physios said it was unlikely that I would ever walk again and that I would probably need care the rest of my life.

I was devastated.

I was only 26 and felt I would be a burden to my family. I became depressed – it was perhaps the darkest and worst part of my entire life.

My mother, though, refused to believe it. 

Next thing I knew, I was attending Motion Rehab, a private rehabilitation centre, three times a week for four hours a day.

It was intense, but results came quickly.

Within five months, I had taken my first steps on my own with the aid of a pole.

I also started attending a local leisure centre and even got a personal trainer (PT) who helped me with functional skills and trained me to use heavier weights.

After 10 months I left the rehabilitation centre.

Walking out of the building only holding onto someone’s arm for balance was a huge moment. All the hard work and determination had paid off.

I continued to go to the gym and, as time went by, I made friends with some bodybuilders.

My decision to take up bodybuilding was purely motivated by seeing my friends competing. I wanted to prove to the world that I was able to defy what should’ve been impossible for me to ever do.

I got a new personal trainer, Lee, who taught me how to progress further. He would give me a week to week training program complemented with a nutritional eating plan.

By May 2022 I’d signed up to be a competitor in the disabled section of a bodybuilding competition in Coventry. Lee coached me through the whole thing and was with me every step of the way through a 16 week long strict diet and training plan.

The training was hard and often draining but because I could see the change in my body shape, this motivated me to get the result I wanted. I never once felt I would ever give in.

All the hard work paid off, though, as I came first in the competition.

When I won, I felt on top of the world. It was an amazing boost to my confidence.

Once again, I’d proved to myself that if you put everything into what you are doing you can achieve the result you want.

Today I continue to go to the gym six days a week. I haven’t done any more bodybuilding yet as I’m currently focusing on my functional skills to help improve my coordination.

While I love my ‘new normal’ there are of course things from before the accident that I miss.

I can no longer drive or work as an electrician, and I used to enjoy snowboarding, which I can never do again. 

But I have so much else to be thankful for.

I’ve had speech therapy to correct my stutter, part of my memory has returned and I am currently studying to become a PT with The Fitness Group so I can finally get back into work again.

I want to be able to guide and help other unfortunate people like myself that have suffered accidents or injuries. That will be the most rewarding thing I can achieve next. 

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