Miracle of the marathon man who refused to accept he would never walk again
INSPIRATIONAL COMEBACK FROM A SEVERED SPINE
Travelling back from a weekend festival with his two best friends, Zach Washington-Young was in high spirits. They had been to Bestival on the Isle of Wight and were looking forward to catching up on sleep.
But then, in a split second, everything changed – the tyres on their coach exploded, causing it to career off the road and smash into a tree.
Zach was catapulted through the windscreen. His two friends, Michael Molloy, 18, and Kerry Ogden, 23, died instantly, along with the driver.
Doctors were amazed that Zach survived the September 2012 crash in Hindhead, Surrey, but repeatedly told him he would never walk again.
Once a budding sportsman, he spent a month in intensive care with a shattered spine. But Zach, 27, defied medics by regaining movement in his legs.
Tomorrow, he will take part in the Virgin Money London Marathon, six years after being told he would never walk again. It will make him the first person in history to complete the arduous 26.2 miles having suffered a total spinal cord break.
Zach says: “This is going to be the best day of my life. I want to inspire others to achieve the impossible, to not take no for an answer, to live their dreams.
“Completing the London Marathon, having been told I’d never take another step in my life will be a huge victory in the history of spinal cord injury.
“We are on the cusp of something very special here.”
Zach can’t recall much about the crash but knows that he was lucky to survive it. He remembers: “I was told I blacked out for about 20 minutes but when I woke up I remember feeling the most intense pain in my body and I couldn’t move or feel my legs. So, instantly, I knew what had happened and I just kept repeatedly screaming out the word ‘no!’, waiting for help,” he adds.
He was airlifted to Southampton General Hospital, then transferred to a specialist spinal unit in Southport. Scans showed he had suffered a fracture to a vertebrae, while a piece of shattered bone had sliced through his spinal cord.
He was told he had permanently lost the use of his legs.
ZAfter the crash I instantly knew what had happened & I just kept repeatedly screaming out the word ‘no!’
ach spiralled into a depression, thinking his life was over. Before the crash, he had been a promising footballer and keen athlete, and was about to start the final year of his law degree at Liverpool John Moores University.
Zach says: “The head doctor in the unit was so certain that this was the end of the road for me that he said: ‘If he walks again, I’ll eat my tie.’
“Everything there was focused on me getting used to a life in a wheelchair.
“I sunk into a very dark place, thinking everything in my life that I had valued was gone.”
Zach spent six months with more than 10 physio specialists, making no progress. He says: “Every single expert we had come across had said my injury was simply too severe to even attempt a recovery, let alone pull it off.”
But his parents, Emma and Peter, refused to accept the prognosis...
After months of research, they discovered Prime Physio, a revolutionary rehab clinic near Cambridge, where they were finally offered hope.
Everything changed when he started working with the centre’s clinical director Andrew Galbraith in 2013.
Three times a week, Zach was driven 400 miles from the family home in Broadgreen, Liverpool, for treatment.
Such was his progress, that in 2014 the family decided to relocate to Cambridge.
Zach was treated with cutting-edge technology that caused his paralysed muscles to contract, creating healthier
muscle tissue. He was also put in an exoskeleton suit to simulate walking.
“The eureka moment happened one day in the shower, when a muscle in my left leg flickered.
“It was a huge step in the right direction but still so far away from where I wanted to be.”
Day by day, those flickers became more regular and stronger, and other muscles started to respond.
He says: “The approach was basically to get me as fit and active as possible, to surround me with positivity and to never give up.”
Zach went from using an exoskeleton, to a Zimmer frame, to full leg callipers then, eventually, on to crutches. In November 2015, he did a
Completing the marathon, having been told that I’d never take another step in my life, will be a huge victory
walk around a lake with a Zimmer frame. He says: “I’d only planned to do a 20-minute walk with friends and family but I got in the zone and said that I wanted to try a mile in under an hour, which we did.”
He can now walk unaided, using his crutches for balance and security when taking on long distances.
Zach has continued to set himself ever more ambitious goals.
Last summer, he did the Rock ’n’ Roll Half Marathon in Liverpool in just over six hours. He says: “There were so many Scousers willing me on to succeed when my body felt like it couldn’t go on.” Keen to tackle a full marathon, Zach has been training in Barcelona and California. And, along with mixed martial arts star Dean Garnett, 29, who he calls his mentor, he has co-founded the Aspire Combat Sports Academy in Liverpool.
Zach explains: “I see my recovery as a sport. I visualise each milestone as a boxer would view a world title fight. I go into strict fight camp mode and train for 12-16 weeks. I am nothing short of a professional athlete.
“My recovery is a full-time job that requires complete dedication every single day. My nutrition and preparaone-mile tion is specifically tailored. I have strength and conditioning coaches, and physios. We take the same approach as a combat sports athlete would leading up to an event.”
He adds: “I’m in peak physical condition and I’m supported by incredible sports professionals who believe in me as much as I believe in myself.”
A full marathon is a mammoth undertaking for anyone but Zach has his sights set even higher – he wants to complete a full-distance Ironman triathlon and secure a place on the Team GB Paralympic swimming squad.
He is already a British Swimming (S6) champion, after beating Swedish Paralympic gold medallist Karl Forsman in the 50m freestyle in 2017, before beating his own time this year.
But Zach stresses that he is “also just another human being”.
“This is just hard work and dedication and I believe that with the right guidance many more can follow in my footsteps. This is the message I am trying to get across to the many other people out there suffering every day due to these injuries.”
Ultimately, he credits his parents for his remarkable recovery.
“They are the real heroes in this journey for me,” he beams.
“Without them, I’d have never found this incredible centre.”
To sponsor Zach, visit uk.virgin moneygiving.com/ZachWashing tonYoung