Mark Thornton*

After leaving college travelled with my wife to be, Lisa, in the early 90’s through Israel, Egypt, India, South East Asia, Australia & New Zealand. Followed on to work 5 ski seasons running ski chalets in Verbier, Switzerland and Val D’Isere, France. Experienced off-piste skier.

Married Lisa between travelling and first ski season in Nov 1993.

1998 joined Humberside Police based in Scunthorpe and moved to Lincolnshire. Spent just short of 20 years in the Police Service, around 15 years of which working in intelligence and involved in many different aspects of policing including major investigations, football policing, covert operations and risk management.

Two children, Lucy born 2000 and Ella born 2002.

Always a keen athlete I was an endurance runner enjoying, road, track and cross-country races. Injuries stopped me running and I discovered cycling which became a huge part of my life. Training regularly allowed me to have a number of adventures including rides from coast to coast and back again, from Lincoln cathedral to Santiago de Compostela in Spain and The Trans Atlantic Way Ultra Endurance race along the West coast of Ireland.

Left the Police service in 2018 to become self employed contracting to companies involved in cycling events and Super car driving experiences giving me more control over my work life balance which had been greatly compromised in the Police Service. Family life and life experience have always been prioritised over financial wealth!!

As covid hit in 2020 my self employed work dried up and I began working on covid testing teams across Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. My cycling also stepped up significantly and I was riding 200 – 250 miles a week.

Unfortunately it was on a ride on 14 October 2020, on my own, when I rode into a broken down van and trailer. I have no recollection of how this actually happened and only recall checking over my shoulder as I was expecting a vehicle to overtake me. My first recollection of the accident is being loaded into an air ambulance with someone telling me I had broken my neck. I was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary where the next few days were a blur. Initially I was pretty much totally paralysed having been told I had fractured C1 and C2 and damaged my spinal cord. I had some small movement in my left hand but was unable to do anything meaningful or feel a great deal. Bladder and bowel function was also gone although I was breathing unaided which was probably the best sign for the future. Debates went back and forth but it was finally deemed too dangerous to operate on the fractures and a conservative approach was decided upon. This basically involved wearing a neck brace which remained in place for nearly 8 months.

After three weeks I was transferred to Pinderfields Spinal Injury Unit. I laid flat for a total of 7 weeks and it took another two weeks before I was able to sit up for any length of time. Initial physio sessions left me terrified that I would never do anything again. I had recovered some good movement in my left arm and hand and left leg. My right side though was much weaker. I had lost an unbelievable amount of muscle mass and had a frozen right shoulder. As the physios tried to work with me I felt like my whole body was a jelly. I had absolutely no core. The

lead physio didn’t fill me with much hope and set my horizons at getting myself to the toilet. I wasn’t having that!!

The following few months though saw a quite rapid improvement and in Feb 2021 I left Pinderfields walking with two sticks over short distances. Leaving hospital and coming home was a terrifying prospect but the fear of leaving a protective environment proved groundless and, with the support of my family I went from strength to strength. Community physio provision was minimal though and so, after researching options I opted to pay privately for intensive physiotherapy at a company called Motion Rehab in Hull. This was an initial 4 hours a day, 4 times a week, seven week programme costing around £7000. They professed to use multiple German made machines to promote repetitive movements. Unfortunately this did not achieve a great deal and made me realise there would be no quick fixes. I then learnt about another physio company from a fellow Pinderfields patient called Flex Health. After a slight delay for a hernia operation I began attending there twice a week for two hour sessions.

Their sessions were very much based on strength building and improving movement patterns and have proved very successful. My main issues have all been down my left side where I have a lot of spasticity which interrupts my movement and causes me discomfort. This is definitely reducing, although slowly, as I get stronger and aerobically fitter and it is this area in particular that I feel I would be a good candidate for research. I have now been using a gym independently for over 18 months and have also been using an indoor training bike (wattbike) at home. This has led to me getting back out onto the road where I have completed rides of over 35 miles and now regularly do 10 mile rides. Progress has taken me way beyond where I ever could have dreamed but has also left me wanting more. I am still seeing improvements but they are hard earned and slow. I’ve been rehabbing for three years now and expect to keep going for another three years at least and expect a lifetime of exercises and conditioning.

I now have great ambitions for the future and am aiming to ride out to my friend’s in the middle of France some time next year with Lisa.