On 5th July 2025 our whole world was turned upside down when our son James (then 17) was involved in a motocross accident resulting in a broken back (T4, T5 and T8 fractures), bilateral pulmonary contusions and a damaged spinal cord at T5 level. This has left James with a diagnosis of T5 ASIA A (American Spinal Injury Association) paraplegia.

James underwent decompression surgery at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford on the same day to take the pressure off his spinal cord and surgical fixation of rods and pins to stabilise the spinal column.

James was in intensive care for 2 weeks and then transferred onto a major trauma ward until 12th August. He was then moved to The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore to begin rehabilitation.

James stayed at the RNOH for approximately 2 months where he engaged in physiotherapy and occupational therapy to achieve a basic level of independence whilst being in a wheelchair and also completed a spinal cord injury education programme.

During this period, James celebrated his 18th birthday in this hospital.

What this means for James is that daily tasks and personal care have become a lot more difficult as he is paralysed from the waist down and as a result of this he is now confined to a wheelchair.

Whilst we feel very lucky that James is still alive and did not sustain a head injury, we would love to be able to help him to have the chance to walk again. After extensive research, we know that the only way to possibly make this happen is a type of treatment that is not available in the UK and would mean us taking James abroad at a cost of £30,000 per treatment. It is likely that this treatment will need to be repeated 4 or 5 times. Therefore, we are fundraising to help give James a fighting chance of walking again.

James is a funny, caring, loving son who has always had a passion for Motorsport.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for reading and caring and if you are able to spare anything at all to help James with the biggest battle of his life, we would be eternally grateful.

With love,

Sharon and Anton (Mum and dad) and James x