OUT OF HOSPITAL TO TAKE ‘LITTLE GIRL’ DOWN AISLE
Dad will escort daughter in his wheelchair
AYEAR after cheating death in a mountain bike accident quadriplegic Paul Curtis will take daughter Hannah down the aisle tomorrow. The 20-stone former Harlequin rugby player broke his neck having hurtled downhill on a mountain bike into a tree.
As he lay fighting for his life he turned to his best pal and said: “If I don’t get through this, walk my daughter down the aisle.”
Now he has beaten the odds to be able do it himself, with the help of his wheelchair.
“I’m a little bit nervous and apprehensive, but I’m good,” Paul said.
The 58-year-old said: “It will be the first night I have spent away from the hospital environment in 14 months.”
The smash left the dad of three with a broken neck and damaged spine. He paralysed half his right diaphragm and ruined half his right lung.
He said:“Like any dad, I’m really excited to see my little girl going into the next chapter of her life, I’m excited by the whole prospect.”
The wedding will be at the Oxwich Bay Hotel, Gower.
“Paul tried his suit on this week and looked absolutely amazing, I was in floods of tears,” his wife Rhian, 56, said.
“It’s the first time Paul will have slept in a bed outside hospital without nurses,” she said.
“He’s nervous and scared but we will do it together. He will actually be able to escort Hannah down the aisle.
“We didn’t think he would live, let alone make the wedding. But here we are a year later.”
“Paul can push with his left hand and hold Hannah’s hand with his right. They can go down the aisle together. Hopefully, he will not need to be to pushed.”
The family are trying to raise £150,000 to convert their home for Paul.
Last month rugby stars Will Carling, Mick Skinner, Peter Winterbottom and Mike Teague were among those who raised more than £50,000 in a 70-mile bike ride for Paul.
To help Paul visit www.justgiving.com/ c a mpaigns/ c hari t y / matthampson foundation/pelotonforcurto