Paul “Titch” Curtis

June 2017

Life can change forever in an instant, even for the most apparently indestructible characters. Just ask Paul Curtis, the former Harlequins prop.

On September 17th, 2016, Paul was involved in a very serious mountain bike accident, which resulted in catastrophic, life changing injuries. Paul broke his neck, damaged his spinal cord, paralysed half of his diaphragm and wrecked half of his right lung and was left completely paralysed from the chest down. Because of his injuries, Paul has been faced with what has seemed like an endless list of major medical issues but, he has overcome these issues and proved that he is determined, resilient and courageous.

Paul spent the six months following the accident at University Wales Hospital, Cardiff and it wasn’t until mid-February that Paul was deemed strong enough and healthy enough to be moved into a wheelchair for a few short hours a day. Since this point Paul has continued to get stronger and stronger.

On March 13th, 2017, Paul was finally healthy enough to be transferred to Rookwood Spinal Rehabilitation Centre, Llandaff, Cardiff and, since being at Rookwood, he has continued to make progress. He undertakes intensive physio each day and on a daily basis, displays the same determination, resilience and competitive spirit he showed long ago on the rugby field and during his time in University Wales Hospital. The prime example of this being Paul challenging other patients at Rookwood to competitions during their physio programmes or Paul aiming to set personal best times every time he works on the hand bike equipment.

Whilst Paul works each day to make improvements to his health, this sadly is not the only challenge that he and his family face. Paul was hoping to return to his family home but, before this is possible, his home will have to completely adapted to meet his extensive needs. These adaptions are going to be very costly and The Voyagers have Donated £500 to assist here.

You can read more about Paul and keep up to date with his progress at - www.paulcurtisfund.com