A jogger hit by a car while training for the Great South Run is so determined to be in tomorrow's race that he is competing in a wheelchair.
Dale Muffett, 31, could have died from the catalogue of horrific injuries he suffered in the crash on January 1 last year.
He was hit as he crossed the road during the New Year’s Day jog in his home city of Portsmouth.
After 17 days in a medically induced coma, he woke up in hospital. And Covid meant not even his fiancée could be there.
He had a punctured lung, two bleeds on the brain, broken shoulder blades, a broken sternum, broken skull and fractures to most ribs. Worst of all, he broke his back in nine places and is paralysed from the waist down.
The driver is due to stand trial charged with dangerous driving in January.
Dale said: “My life changed in a heartbeat. Of course it’s been pretty tough. But there’s no point in being super-sad about everything. You’ve just got to crack on.
“I know it’s a miracle I’m still alive and I want to make the most of what I’ve got. I’m grateful to still be here.”
Dale was training for the 2021 Great South Run after he caught the running bug in the 10-mile race in 2019. He entered the 2020 event but it was cancelled due to Covid – as was his wedding to girlfriend Rachael.
After his accident he never made it to the 2021 start line but now he hopes to finally beat his personal target of 1 hr 20 mins, this time in a wheelchair, after training with Portsmouth Athletic Club coach.
Dale said: “I don’t remember anything of being hit by a car until about a week after I woke up in hospital. No one had to tell me I was paralysed – I just knew.
“It was during one of the bad Covid waves and I wasn’t allowed visitors. During 11 weeks in hospital I saw Rachael just once. All I cared about was getting home to her.”
After five weeks at Southampton Hospital and another six weeks in Salisbury Hospital’s spinal injury unit, Dale finally did go home.
And in that June he and Rachael, 27, tied the knot. The couple, who live on Hayling Island, hope to start a family and are in the early stages of adoption. Dale has vowed to live life to the full and has since had flying lessons, learned to water-ski, sailed around the Isle of Wight and been sit-skiing in Colorado.
Dale, who has a new job as a data manager for the charity Spinal Research, said: “I’ve been really enjoying it and I’m quite a bit fitter than I ever was when I was running. I can’t wait for Sunday, when I will hopefully finally beat a 1 hr 20 min Great South Run.”
He is raising money for Spinal Research, which funds research around the world to develop treatments for spinal cord injuries.
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