Soldier, 32, who broke his neck and was left paralysed makes miraculous recovery – and is now training for a half marathon

broken neck, paralysisA soldier who was told he might never walk again after he broke his neck is set to take part in the Great North Run.

David Triplow suffered a devastating injury while playing his first game of rugby for his regiment, but has amazed doctors by battling back to health.

The 32-year-old, of Whitburn, South Tyneside, shattered his neck but has since recovered sufficiently to walk his girlfriend, Michelle, 28, down the aisle.

Mr Triplow, who was serving with the Royal Logistics Corp at Deep Cut Barracks in Surrey, underwent a nine hour operation after sustaining serious damage to his spinal cord.

Surgeons had to pin his spine together and doctors warned he might never walk again.

However, he fought his way back to health and has now opened up about the miracle recovery that led him to propose to Michelle.
 
He said: ‘There was no movement from the waist down, but I woke up one morning several weeks after the accident and things just started to move.

‘It was like when you wake up in the morning and you yawn and stretch.

‘I did that and my right leg just lifted off the bed. I started pressing the buzzer and the nurses came running.’

Mr Triplow was transferred from hospital in London to a specialist spinal cord unit at Middlesbrough’s James Cook University Hospital.

He was also sent to the Headley Court Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre for treatment and had rehabilitation treatment at the Personnel Recovery Centre in Edinburgh.

Although with intense physiotherapy he learned to walk again, he was devastated to be medically discharged from the Army in 2011.

Now, five years after being told he would never walk again, Mr Triplow is in training for the Great North Run half marathon in Newcastle next month.

He is running to raise funds for the British Legion.

Mr Tiplow gave thanks to Michelle, brother Michael, 36, and his parents Jenny, 63, and Bob, 65, for their support.

He said: ‘I am the luckiest man in the world. Without my wife, my family and friends, this would have been a completely different situation.’

Source Mail Online