By Ben Barry
A man who had to learn to walk again after being in a coma for three and a half weeks is training to run the London Marathon.
Connor Blundell, 25, was on a year abroad in Valencia, Spain, studying mechanical engineering.
Five weeks into his studies, Connor was out with friends when he fell four metres from a platform and landed onto his head.
Connor was unconscious and rushed to hospital where he spent three and a half weeks in a coma.
When Connor became conscious he was non-verbal and unable to walk and spent nine months in rehabilitation.
Connor was not able to leave Spain until May 2021 and continued his rehabilitation in the UK.
Less than four years on, Connor is walking and talking again and taking part in the London Marathon this weekend alongside his dad, Chris, 57.
Connor, an environmental consultant, from Sheffield, Yorkshire, said: “I had a one in three chance of dying and a one in three chance of being in a coma forever.
“I am pretty gassed to be here today.
“It has been a journey, the reason I am running for Crisis and WaterAid is because I don’t question what if.
“Yes, it would have been lovely not to have to learn to get better again but I feel a lot of gratitude.
“I am lucky for my family’s support and beyond that to not be experiencing homelessness and to not be without clean water.”
Connor and his friends were enjoying the bank holiday weekend in Valencia, Spain in October 2020.
They were in a public park, dancing on a viewing platform when Connor fell off the edge of the platform.
He said: “It was late, there was no lights.
“I was knocked out straight away when I hit my head from the fall.
“For the next three and a half weeks I was in a coma.”
Connor said he “gradually” woke up from his coma and was non-verbal and unable to walk.
He said: “It wasn’t like an off and on, mine was more a slow come round.
“There was a time when I could keep my eyes open, I was more or less awake, but I couldn’t speak for a month or so.
“I don’t remember anything from my first few weeks, my memory starts in November.
“My sister took a year sabbatical and my parents were forced to take a year off from their own jobs to stay with me in Spain.
“It was tough for me and it was tough of them. They had to sit there not knowing if I would die tomorrow.”
After he woke up, Connor started physio where he would learn to walk, talk and have cognitive therapy for four hours a day.
He was in hospital for a further four months before he was discharged and became and outpatient.
Connor said: “I was walking with a Zimmer frame when I left hospital.
“We were staying around a 20 minute walk from the hospital, we walked home and I would pray for a red light so I could sit down and take a break.”
After leaving hospital, Connor and his family stayed in Spain so he could recieve outpatient care.
After five months as an outpatient, Connor and his family left Spain in May 2021 and went back to the UK.
Connor said: “People expect me to hate Spain and everything about it.
“It is the opposite, I was obsessed with Spain before, and I still love it.
“It wasn’t exactly the year that I expected, but there was definitely a lot of learning.”
Over the past four years, Connor has been having ongoing therapeutic input to improve his mobility, cognition, and speech.
This weekend, Connor will join thousands of people and run the London Marathon, for WaterAid and Crisis, alongside his dad, Chris.
Connor said: “I am addicted to running, I ran the Manchester Marathon when I was 21 in just under three hours, which automatically qualified me to take part in the London race.
“The accident prevented me from taking part in the London Marathon the year after as previously expected.
“From day one, I said ‘I want to run a marathon one day’, in my head, I thought it would be ten years.
“To be here three and a half years later, running a marathon is amazing.
“I am really fortunate to do it for two charities that I care deeply about.
“To be running it with my dad will be an incredible experience.
“I have always wanted to run the London Marathon but it has a lot more meaning to me now.”
Connor’s fundraising link: https://www.givewheel.com/fundraising/1886/2024-tcs-london-marathon/
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