Ten years ago James Puttrell was on a high – rising through the ranks of motorcycle racing and having met the love of his life.
But then an horrific crash at a championship race at Brands Hatch left the 25-year-old fighting for survival with multiple life-threatening and life-changing injuries.
James was taking part in only the second race of the 2015 National Superstock 600 Championships – being televised live – when he came off trying to avoid other riders in a massive first lap collision.
He suffered a brain haemorrhage, major internal bleeding, two broken collarbones, broken ribs, punctured lungs, a broken arm resulting in severe nerve damage, a broken neck, multiple broken vertebrae and a severed spinal cord which has left James paralysed from the chest down.
Having survived three cardiac arrests and spending five weeks in an induced coma at St George’s Hospital, London, the reality of what his post-crash life would be hit home to James and his devastated family and girlfriend Sarah.
“I have no memory at all of that weekend,” he said “I know I owe my life to the medical team at Brands Hatch and the air ambulance crew. Sarah and my family were told even if I did survive, I would be paralysed and the severity of my head injury was completely unknown.
“The first thing I remember is coming around in a ward six or seven weeks later. I couldn’t talk or move and was just so confused, and then to hear in no uncertain terms that I would never walk again was so much to take in.”
“I spent four months in hospital and then another eight months at Stoke Mandeville Spinal Injuries Unit, with both mine and Sarah’s incredible families by my side every single day. Goodness knows what they all went through but without their love and support I would certainly not be where I am today.”
“There will be hurdles to overcome in the future but it just goes to show that there is life after a spinal cord injury.”
When James left hospital he started a new life with Sarah in Letchworth, near Stevenage, and two years later the devoted couple married.
“All of this would not have been possible without my incredible wife, Sarah, who stood by my side through thick and thin. She must have all the credit, not me, because she could have walked away but she didn’t. I owe her the world,” said James, now 35, who works for an agricultural company.
Today, he is the proud father of two girls – Millie, aged 5, and eight-month-old Mia – and while James has lost so much and faces huge daily challenges, he is genuinely grateful for the life he has and the people in it.
“Not every day has been easy I’ll be honest, and it has taken me ten years to finally be in a place where I can look forward and enjoy life.
“But I am incredibly proud of what I have achieved in these 10 years – getting back into work, driving again, getting back on a motorbike, getting married, and the biggest and proudest achievement is having my two beautiful girls.
“Dads are supposed to be able to help their kids do stuff, and there’s a lot I can’t do, but I can do plenty of other things and my girls are just my world.
“Life doesn’t stop after a spinal cord injury. Mine had only just started, I had really done nothing before my accident but since I have done so much with the love and support of my wife Sarah.
“There will be hurdles to overcome in the future but it just goes to show that there is life after a spinal cord injury.”
If I could I would:
The one thing I would change if I could is to get back full hand and arm function. I only have the use of one hand so to repair nerve damage to my left hand so that it’s useful would be incredible and make such a difference to day-to-day living.
Discover more
Community stories
Read more stories of people with a spinal cord injury and the hope they have that, one day, research will help them.
Our Research
Research facilities around the world are developing a range of cutting-edge treatment pathways, some now in clinical trial.