{"id":21559,"date":"2026-01-19T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/2026\/01\/19\/i-was-told-i-would-never-walk-again-i-proved-the-doctors-wrong-pensioner-obsessed-with-new-bike-after-broken-neck-body-image\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T13:00:00","slug":"i-was-told-i-would-never-walk-again-i-proved-the-doctors-wrong-pensioner-obsessed-with-new-bike-after-broken-neck-body-image","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umang.pk\/ur\/2026\/01\/19\/i-was-told-i-would-never-walk-again-i-proved-the-doctors-wrong-pensioner-obsessed-with-new-bike-after-broken-neck-body-image\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I was told I would never walk again. ‘I proved the doctors wrong’: Pensioner obsessed with new bike after broken neck | body image"},"content":{"rendered":"
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rain<\/span>Before the accident, Harold Price, 82, loved riding two wheels. The retired engineer from Griffithtown, Wales, rode about 95 miles a week on his road bike. \u201cNot bad for someone born in \u201978,\u201d he said. Other days, like June 2021, I would go out with a friend on a restored motorcycle. They were driving ten miles per hour down a narrow road when his friend pulled up in front of them. \u201cI had nowhere to go,\u201d Price said. He remembers his head hitting his helmet before he passed out.<\/p>\n

Price spent several months in the hospital. He broke the fifth vertebra in his neck, putting pressure on his spinal cord. He said he would never walk again. \u201cObviously it was a little disappointing,\u201d he says. He was determined to prove the doctors wrong. \u201cMy mind told me I could get up and get out. But when I tried, I collapsed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back home, a friend designed a lifting frame with wheels "on the back of a fag pack” to help him stand and walk, but Price often fell. \u201cIt\u2019s not even halfway down. It looks like it\u2019s going to hold up, so it needs to have a strong ticker.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Price with physiotherapist Sam Miggins at the Morrello Clinic in Newport.<\/span> Photo: Francesca Jones\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While he and his wife were working to help make Price’s home more accessible in 2022, an engineer mentioned the Morrello Clinic, a physical therapy center. That’s how Price met physiotherapist Sam Miggins. After assessing the strength and movement of his legs, she turned to him and said: \u201cI\u2019ll let you walk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can imagine how I felt,\u201d Price said. \u201cFor months I was told I couldn\u2019t do it!\u201d<\/p>\n

He started attending twice a week. He trains on an active-passive bike with a motor that helps move his legs but still requires effort. These include resistance training, stretching to aid hip and torso movement, and walking with varying levels of support.<\/p>\n

Progress is slow. He finds it difficult to maintain his resolve. \u201cSometimes I go to bed at night and feel like I don\u2019t want to get up, and then I wake up in the morning and think, \u2018Oh, I\u2019m going to walk again. I have to get better than this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It took me six months to build up the strength to use a walker. The first time was \u201camazing,\u201d Price said. Even though I was hurt. Now he and Miggins are taking Zimmer for a quarter-mile walk up and down the road outside the clinic. \u201cIf there\u2019s another patient there, we say, \u2018Oh, are you going to the bar?\u2019\u201d he jokes. After that he was exhausted. \u201cBut mentally I feel a lot better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Price now uses an upright walker to walk short distances at home with his wife. You no longer need a caregiver to help your child get dressed or put to bed. At the hospital, he started walking using a quad stick for stability and with only one person supporting him. Previously, he suffered from severe cramps. \u201cMy legs would rise at right angles.\u201d Now they have stopped.<\/p>\n

He visits the hospital once a year to review his medications. He remembers the first time he returned after learning how to walk again. \u201cThe doctor said, \u2018Well, Mr. Price, you proved us wrong.\u2019 I said, \u2018It\u2019s because of Sam,\u2019 and the doctor said, \u2018It\u2019s not because of Sam, it\u2019s because of you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Harold Price goes to the Morrello Clinic.<\/p>\n