Rowing legend Pete Reed on his rehab after freak spinal stroke left him paralysed from the chest down

THREE months after being paralysed from the chest down, Pete Reed will today be discharged from Salisbury District Hospital.

It is only a temporary, supervised measure – the longest period he has spent outside of hospital – and he will be back for nightly check-ups.

But poignantly at least he can spend a precious Christmas with his loved ones.

Reed, a British sporting hero and Royal Naval officer, said: “I’ve been craving this. One of the toughest things about my situation is I can’t go home, so we’re going to an Airbnb close to the hospital with disabled access.

“I can see my family, my girlfriend Jeannie, and we can see the new year in together.”

For the next ten days, wheelchair-bound Reed will laugh, drink and eat with family before saying good riddance to the darkest year of his life.

It was on September 2 when the three-time Olympic gold medal-winning rower suddenly felt severe chest pains. Like he was wearing an extremely tight seatbelt.

The 38-year-old had just been on a tough yet routine military course in the South West.

‘STILL THINK HOW LUCKY I AM’

However, that evening he had pins and needles in his legs. The most worrying sign was falling out of bed “like Bambi” and an inability to pee.

The next day he went to a Plymouth hospital. Soon, he was unable to walk with complete numbness in his legs.

Doctors suspect he suffered a freak spinal stroke. It occurred in the T6/T7 region. Any higher and it was tetraplegia.
Yet steadfast Reed refused to accept defeat.

His Naval career and experiences as an elite athlete gave him a tremendous platform.

He said: “I still think how lucky I am. I’ve my arm strength. I’m independent. I’ve a background that helps me cope with this in certain ways.

“It’s less than ideal. It’s not just the not walking — there is some horrible stuff going on — but at least I have my arms and my head. I can get up and dress myself every morning, brush my teeth and have a shower.

“I’ve every right after three months to still be in bed, feeling sorry for myself. No-one would blame me.

“And I wouldn’t blame anyone else for feeling like that. It’s important to get your life not back to how it was, but to the same values in this new direction.”

Reed’s credentials as a sports legend are fully established — only Steve Redgrave (five) and Matthew Pinsent (four) have won more rowing golds for Britain.

He is also a Royal Navy lieutenant commander and he intends to return to military life.

A bout of meningitis, a bladder infection, pressure sores and a fall have delayed his progress and sapped his physical strength.

But Reed said: “I’d love to walk again — and I’ll never give up. My gut instinct is that things are coming back so slowly.

“It’s like rowing – if I constantly thought about the Olympic gold medal in training, you’d burn yourself out.

“I’ve got a nice balance of positivity and realism, focusing on the day, the little steps.”

“I hope in my lifetime there’ll be some medical science which will allow a link between the two good bits of my spinal cord.

“But you can’t get too side-tracked by those thoughts. Otherwise you’ll dwell, hope and miss out on the training.”

Admirably, Reed refuses to do self-pity and remains positive about his future.

Some have suggested the Paralympics or maybe Prince Harry’s Invictus Games over the next decade. But while he will never lose his competitive instincts, the prospect of long-distance training camps don’t appeal.

On January 7, he will be transferred to Stanford Hall rehab centre in Loughborough where the impetus is on physical training. That in itself is a huge step.

There have been dark days, of course, but the Christmas break will act as a turning point.

He said: “My background means I’m trained to seek out challenges and not to fear failure. Fail fast, learn from it, rebound – that was daily occurrence in the Navy and rowing.

“I haven’t had a moment of, ‘Why me?’. This is chance and bad luck — there is no blame. It’s just one of those horrible things.”

“My legs have behaved very well for 38 years. I hope they come back. But there’s no self-pity. That would be a dangerous road.”

More than £22,000 has been raised via a special gofundme page, set up by pal Andrew Triggs Hodge, the three-time Olympic gold medallist.

Reed said: “The wider community have been so supportive. All I can say is thank you so much. I feel like George Bailey from It’s a Wonderful Life. The public response has made me very emotional. I’m very lucky.”

To donate, please visit the Pete Reed Support page at