July 2026
Just 16 months ago Sam Baldwin was told he would never walk again after suffering serious spinal cord injuries in a motorbike accident. This month, the 28-year-old summited Snowdon in a nine-hour challenge with proud family and friends after a remarkable recovery.
On March 16, 2025, Sam was returning to his home in Carterton, West Oxfordshire, after a motorbike ride with a friend when he hit a pothole catapulting him 60m down the road.
“I don’t remember what happened,” said Sam. “I think I swerved to avoid something but I came off and my bike went on to hit a wall and trees and so I think I was lucky – even though I did myself a lot of damage.”
The father-of-one suffered multiple injuries including breaking seven vertebrae in his back and neck leaving him paralysed from the waist down. He also fractured several ribs, both shoulders, smashed his elbow and punctured a lung.
Sam was placed in an induced coma for seven days and spent eight weeks in the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford before transferring to Stoke Mandeville spinal injuries unit for a further three months.
“My family were told I would never walk again and I remember spending hours every day staring at my toes willing them to move,” said Sam who works for the family Heritage Roofing business in Witney.
“One day I saw the tiniest wiggle and that tiny movement became a spark of hope. From that moment I set goal after goal and, step by step, I did what they said I couldn’t.”
And, remarkably, just three weeks after leaving Stoke Mandeville, Sam walked his fiancé Izzy and daughter Ayda out of church on their wedding day. “It was my goal to be on my feet for the wedding and I managed it with a walking stick. It was a very emotional day”.
A week after his accident the former county rugby and basketball player was supposed to have climbed Mount Snowdon. And on Saturday, just over a year later, he did just that to raise vital funds for Spinal Research, the UK’s leading charity funding research to develop life changing treatments and ultimately a cure for paralysis.
Sam was joined on the epic challenge by family and friends and followed every step of the nine-hour trek by his physio and friend Jack Middleton.
“Coming back down was really tough – one of the hardest things I’ve ever done – but I dedicate this to everyone who would give anything to take even one step.”
“I’m so grateful I’m still seeing improvements and although I can’t carry heavy stuff, run or play sports I am so lucky to have all the important things that really matter in life, like being able to take my daughter Ayda to the beach.
“Getting up Snowdon was a celebration and a thank you, and a way of raising money for a great charity that gives people like me hope for a better future.”
Every two hours someone in the UK is paralysed after a spinal cord injury. Globally, it is estimated that 15.4 million people are living with paralysis. It can happen to anyone at any time, changing lives instantly.
Suzanne Redding, Head of Audience and Community for Spinal Research, said: “Many congratulations to Sam for his incredible achievement.
“After decades of funding the best research and researchers we are now at a point where breakthrough therapies are coming through; where the impossible is becoming possible.
“What we urgently need is the funds to get these treatments to the people who need them. Which is why every pound raised matters so much and why we are so grateful to Sam for supporting Spinal Research.”
To support Sam go to his JustGiving page.
