The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Paraclimber to open club after being told he’d never walk again
A man who was told he would never walk again after injuring himself in a Perthshire parachute jump has started the first paraclimbing club in the UK.
Keith Lynch, 42, broke his back in three places and suffered broken bones in his leg after his parachute caught turbulence during a freak skydiving accident in May 2010.
This required surgeons to remove around 80% of the muscle from his calf and more than 60% from his quadriceps.
In January 2013 Keith had much of his right leg amputated but was undeterred and took up climbing a year later with the help of fellow climbers at the Edinburgh International Climbing Area.
The father-of-two went on to win back-to-back Scottish titles in 2016 and 2017 and has risen to 11th in the world rankings.
Paraclimbing has seen increased participation across the country over the last year after hundreds of fans attended the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) paraclimbing world cup at the EICA in September 2017.
And now Keith from Penicuik, Midlothian, has set up the first competitive paraclimbing club in the UK.
He said: “After the accident, I wanted to go back to skydiving but my wife and my girls quite rightly told me no, so at that point I had to find something else to keep the adrenaline pumping.
“I went along to a taster session at Ratho and I just loved it.
“I probably have another year of doing this competitively in me, so I want there to be something in place for a continuation of the sport, particularly at Ratho.”