Scots teen told he'd never walk again after spinal clot scores momentous goal for team

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A teenage footballer who was told he may never walk again after a clot developed on his spine has fought back to score a momentous goal for his team.Kyle Ritchie was just 13 when he was rushed to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow with a suspected back injury after collapsing during training with Galston Boys’ Club in May 2019.Kyle was later diagnosed with a mass on his spinal cord which had caused it to rip – leaving him with no feeling from his ribs down and facing life in a wheelchair.

Medics described his condition as like being 'shot in the back with a gun' and told his devastated mum Donna, 39, that his injuries would have been less severe if he had fallen out of a ten-story building.Kyle, 17, who is from Galston, near Kilmarnock, told the Record that the news left him devastated and fearing he would never play football again.

He said: "I remember feeling a pain in my back during training and telling my mum I couldn't feel my legs."The next thing I'm in an ambulance and then being told by doctors that I would never walk again.

I felt like my dream had been ripped away from me."Kyle was referred to specialists in London after the spinal unit in Glasgow said they had never dealt with an injury so severe.