- Lois and Ed were looking forward to their wedding when disaster struck after Ed broke his neck diving into a swimming pool.
- Doctors feared that Ed would never walk again, but with extensive physiotherapy and determination, Ed managed to stand again and eventually walk down the aisle.
- The couple faced challenges during Ed’s recovery with sex but therapy and communication helped them work through.
- On the one-year anniversary of his neck injury, Ed set himself the challenge of climbing Mount Snowdon.
As the cute guy in the fireman’s outfit flirted with me, I couldn’t wipe the grin from my face.
It was 2010, I was at a costume party at uni, and I’d been eyeing up the fireman, Ed, all night.
Aged 21, he was three years older than me.
“What do you actually do for work?” I asked him.
“I’m a professional rugby player,” he told me.
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With his 193cm muscular frame, it made sense.
“I play netball,” I told him.
Ed asked me out and I discovered he was funny and kind, too.
We bonded over our love of fitness and health.
Soon, we were a couple.
After university, I got a job training netball players.
Then, in October 2016, Ed proposed and we booked our wedding in Tuscany, Italy, for two years’ time.
Life was great, but in April 2017, everything changed.
One weekend, Ed went to visit friends and family. I couldn’t go because of work.
“Have fun,” I said, kissing him goodbye.
Later, in the afternoon, I was in the garden when Ed’s stepmum, Sue, called.
“Ed’s in hospital,” she told me. “He’s hit his head but he’s okay.”
“I’ll drive right over,” I said. From the way she sounded, I thought I’d be picking him up with concussion, but meeting Sue outside Emergency, she revealed the truth.
“I didn’t want to worry you,” she said. “But Ed’s condition is quite serious.”
She explained he’d accidentally dived into the shallow end of his mate’s pool and hit his head on the bottom.
When he’d tried to stand up, he couldn’t move his legs or his arms. Realising something was wrong, Ed’s dad, MJ, jumped in.
As a retired doctor, MJ knew most damage happens when people are moved after impact, so he gently held Ed in the water, keeping his head up until the ambulance arrived.
On the way to the hospital, paramedics had to resuscitate Ed three times.
“He’s lucky to be alive,” Sue said.
I fought back the tears as she took me in to see him.
His head was strapped down and he was shaking.
“I’m so sorry,” he told me.
“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for,” I assured him.
He had surgery to have a shattered disk removed.
He’d also dislocated two vertebrae at the bottom of his neck and his spinal cord was badly damaged.
The next day, the surgeon came to see us with a report. He said that Ed was paralysed from the neck down with only slight movement in his right arm.
“It’s unlikely you’ll walk again,” he told Ed. “The best we can hope for is you regain use of your arms so you can use a wheelchair.”
Ed looked completely crushed by the news.
“It’s okay if you want to walk away,” he said when we were alone. “This isn’t what you signed up for.”
“There’s no way I’m leaving,” I told him.
We decided to cancel the wedding, not knowing what lay ahead for Ed’s recovery.
I had no idea what the future held, but I knew I wanted us to be together.
Then, nine days after his accident, we were given hope when Ed started to move his big toe.
I gave up work to support Ed and moved in with his family so I could rent out our home for income.
Six weeks after the accident, Ed was transferred to a rehabilitation centre for treatment.
There he started extensive physio. Slowly, he started to move more.
A week later, we were all stunned when Ed stood for a second and put his arms around me. It gave us hope.
“You’re doing amazingly,” I said with tears in my eyes.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to get better,” he said.
After five months, much to the physio’s amazement, Ed was discharged from the hospital.
He was in a wheelchair, but able to stand and walk a little with crutches.
Feeling had fully returned to his right side, but he had limited strength and feeling in his left.
“I think we should rebook the wedding,” Ed said. “I’m going to make it my mission to walk down the aisle.”
We called the venue and amazingly they still had our original date available.
The lead up to the day wasn’t easy. Ed struggled physically, and intimacy was an issue for us, too.
When we first tried to make love, it was difficult. So, for a long time, we didn’t try again or talk about it.
But after I sought advice from a sex therapist and we began communicating more openly, things got better.
As well as walking down the aisle, Ed set himself another goal.
“On the anniversary of the accident I want to climb Mt Snowdon,” he announced.
He trained hard, walking as much as he could and going to his physio.
When the time came, although he wasn’t quite ready, with the help of his physio team and a leg brace, he pushed through.
Reaching the top, Ed collapsed on the trig point and gave it a kiss. Then, with tears in his eyes, he turned and kissed me.
“You did it,” I said, through my own tears.
Three months later, we married in the gardens of a Tuscan villa, just as we’d planned.
Not only did Ed walk down the aisle, he stood for the whole ceremony, too.
In October that year, over three days, we hiked the Annapurna Mountain Range in Nepal. His efforts were even captured in a documentary film, The Mountain Within Me.
Then we got the idea to set up a charity, Millimetres to Mountains. I retrained as a life coach and now we help people overcome sudden changes in their identity, or mental and physical challenges through exploration and adventure.
Ed, 33, now walks with an AFO foot splint to help his foot drop, and also suffers other complications from his spinal injury. Still, he feels happy and fulfilled.
Things may not have turned out the way we expected, but we’re grateful for each other and what we have.
Follow Lois on Instagram @loisjackson8
Ed hosts a podcast, It’s Good To Walk, available on all podcast platforms
The Mountain Within Me will be available on digital download, August 28, 2024.
