A talented boxer and dad to five children feared for his life after an innocuous gym session left him with a sudden brain bleed. In December, athlete Nathan Wagg fell unconscious on the floor of a gym after a gentle warm-up.
Only two months earlier he had been named a silver super lightweight boxing champion in an H46pro Boxing League competition. The 34-year-old from Murrow, Cambridgeshire, had a bleed to the brain caused by a rare tangle of brain blood vessels he was born with called an arteriovenous malformation (AVM).
Within a few days of his fainting episode, he endured seven hours of brain surgery to relieve the pressure that was causing him unimaginable pain. Nathan then gained over 50 staples to his skull to close the incision from his open brain surgery.
His family and friends are now raising funds to help teach the boxer how to walk again, after he lost the use of his arm and leg due to the damage the bleed has caused. Sam Johnson, Nathan's friend who is coordinating the fundraiser, said: "Nathan and his family's lives literally changed overnight.
"My wife and I woke up to a message that Nathan had been taken to Addenbrookes Hospital after fainting on Dec 1. You never want to see friends and family in pain but Nathan is so active, if anyone was going to have health trouble I never would have thought of him.
"It's overwhelming how much people can come together as a community."
Sam is now trying to raise as much money as possible so Nathan, who works on road improvement, can be back to his family and job. The rehabilitation needed privately will cost £2,000 a week to help the fighter walk again after he took his first step since December this week.
They have so far raised over £10,000 for three months of rehabilitation and hope to raise more to help with the family's loss of income. It will also go towards travel costs so Lauren Smith and their children can drive two and a half hours each week to see him in hospital.
Go to www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/nathanwagg to donate.
