Scots man left almost paralysed after landing on his head during horror bike accident

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Scots man was left almost paralysed from the shoulders down after a horror bike accident.Niall Harris, 41, who lives in Leith, Edinburgh, suffered a high-level spinal cord injury after taking a tumble on his bike and landing on his head, in August 2020.

The outdoor enthusiast went over the handlebars of his bike at the Caddon Bank Mountain Biking Trail, in Innerleithen. Former climbing instructor Niall says he immediately knew things were bad when his feet flipped up into the air and he felt a strange sense of ‘disconnection’ in his body as he lay on the ground, surrounded by his friends.Niall said: “At the time of the accident, specialists told me I was almost fully paralysed from the shoulders down and that it was likely I would be for life, but the goalposts have totally shifted over time, which is really positive."After the accident, he endured a nine-month stay in hospital and a further seven-month discharge to a nursing home.

He began specialist rehabilitation treatment and was determined not to give up hope. While Niall still has progress to make, his situation is a far cry from the time doctors feared he might be on ventilation for life without regaining movement.

He is now regaining movement and has moved into his own home and returned to work in a school - things he and doctors feared may never again be possible.He said: "Lying in bed for seven months didn't really give me much of an opportunity to recover, so the key stage really was when I left the nursing home, I’ve now moved into my own home.“With some funding I got a neuro physiotherapist to come in once a week and from there my progression just kicked off.