Woodbridge teen unable to move below waist after pool accident

“Ryan was at a gathering at a friend’s house just enjoying the summer holidays, they’d finished their GCSEs in June, they were having fun,” Mrs Hayward-Brackenbury, 49, also from Woodbridge, explained.

“He dived into a swimming pool but unfortunately over-dived and sustained a very serious spinal injury.

“They call it a C3 spinal injury where a bone quite high up in the neck is damaged severely and can put some pressure on the spinal cord.

“This led to various levels of loss of mobility.”

Ryan was rushed to the critical care unit at Ipswich Hospital and placed into an induced coma.

The nerves near the spinal cord, by the C3 vertebrae, can have an impact on a person’s breathing and lung clearing ability.

Due to this, and the damage to his spine, Ryan had to be ventilated and had a tracheotomy to help with his breathing while he was in the coma.

“The first three days were very hazy and then very quickly he was back as we know Ryan but without the mobility unfortunately from the waist down and limited by mobility in his arms and hands,” added Mrs Hayward-Brackenbury.