I was told I wouldn't walk again. I proved the doctors wrong': the bike-obsessed pensioner who broke his neck and started afresh

"I had nowhere to go, Price says. He remembers his head snapping back into his helmet before he blacked out. Price spent months in hospital. He had broken the fifth vertebra in his neck, resulting in compression of his spinal cord. He was told he wouldn't walk again. That was a bit of a downer, obviously, he says. He was determined to prove the doctors wrong. My mind told me I could get up and walk out. But when I tried, I collapsed."

"In 2022, while he and his wife were having work done to help make their house more accessible for Price, an engineer mentioned the Morrello Clinic, a physiotherapy centre. That's how Price met physiotherapist Sam Miggins. After assessing the strength and movement in his legs, she turned to him and said, I'll get you to walk. You can imagine how I felt, Price says. After months of being told I couldn't! He began attending twice a week."

"He trains on an active-passive bike, with a motor that helps move his legs but still requires effort. There's resistance training, stretching to aid movement in his hips and trunk, and walking using varying levels of support. Progress is slow. He finds it hard to keep up his determination. I go to bed at night and sometimes I think I don't want to wake up. Then in the morning I think, oh well, I'll walk again."

Harold Price, 82, was an avid cyclist and motorbike enthusiast who rode about 95 miles weekly and restored motorcycles. In June 2021 a friend pulled out in front of him while riding at about 10 mph, causing a crash and loss of consciousness. He fractured the fifth cervical vertebra, compressing his spinal cord, and spent months in hospital where he was told he would not walk again. A friend made a wheeled lifting frame to help him stand, but falls continued. In 2022 physiotherapist Sam Miggins at Morrello Clinic began targeted rehabilitation involving an active-passive bike, resistance work, stretching, and supported walking twice weekly. Progress has been slow and emotionally testing, but regular therapy and determination have enabled gradual gains toward walking.

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