Fifteen months after being declared a tetraplegic, Australian BMX cycling star Sam Willoughby is preparing to walk his bride down the aisle in an emotional New Year’s Eve wedding.
Willoughby, who continues to defy a US doctor’s dire prognosis following his life-changing training accident in 2016, will marry his American sweetheart Alise Post before 180 family and friends in San Diego.
The 26-year-old London Olympics silver medallist and two-time world champion will wear special locked-in knee braces that help him to stand on his big day.
Australian BMX star Sam Willoughby (pictured after winning silver at the London Olympics) will walk down the aisle when he marries his fiance on December 31
Sam was involved in a horrific training accident in 2016 after competing in the Rio Olympics, which left him no movement from the chest down
The 26-year-old has made incredible progress since his accident and plans to be able to stand for his wedding on New Year’s Eve
Sam will marry his American sweetheart and fellow BMX medalist Alise Post (pictured together) before 180 family and friends in San Diego
‘I’m sort of able to shuffle out there a little bit, so that’s the plan,’ Willoughby told AAP on Friday.
‘That’s been the last month I’ve been doing that every day. It’s been a lot of work to get to that point.
‘I’ve pictured it in my mind since the day I proposed to her but I’m sure it will be more emotional and nerve-wracking when I actually get there.
‘I’m just very happy that I’ll be able to be vertical at the ceremony with Alise and just enjoy the day as much as possible.’
Willoughby strongly believes he will walk independently again after making extraordinary progress since his training accident on September 10, 2016.
The 26-year-old suffered fractures to his C6 and C7 vertebrae which severely compressed his spinal cord and left him with no movement below the chest.
‘I’m just very happy that I’ll be able to be vertical at the ceremony with Alise and just enjoy the day as much as possible,’ Sam said
The pair, both BMX champions, have been a source of constant support for each other as Sam receives treatment in the United States
The Olympic medalist (pictured prior to his accident at the Rio Olympics) attends six two-hour sessions with physical therapists each week
He has already graduated from riding a stationary bike to crawling, then kneeling and standing with the aid of his braces.
As well as shuffle, he can do squats, drive a car and has even been go-karting.
The Olympic medalist attends six two-hour sessions with physical therapists each week.
As well as his intense rehabilitation routines, Willoughby continues his own gym work and a focus on diet and nutrition.
Willoughby said he is training as much now as when he was competing.
‘Probably more even, I would say,’ he said.
‘It’s one of those things when it’s your life, your freedom, it means almost a little bit more.
The 26-year-old suffered fractures to his C6 and C7 vertebrae that severely compressed his spinal cord and left him with no movement below the chest
Willoughby said he is training as much now as when he was competing – ‘probably more even more’, he said
‘I value life now more than ever and I probably overdo it a little bit sometimes, but I’m just trying to do everything I can to be healthy and keep moving forward.
‘I’ve already made gains that they said I never would and my ultimate goal is to be out of the wheelchair one day.’
Willoughby’s family aren’t the least surprised by his determination and progress.
‘He’s just been used to setting goals and chipping away at things,’ his mother Sharon said.
‘The sport of BMX, you need to be pretty mentally tough. You train hard, you tick all the boxes but that doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed an outcome.
‘So it’s a bit like that with rehab.’
Sharon, a school teacher, is immensely proud of her son and his fiance, a Rio Olympics silver medalist herself.
Sam’s progress continues to defy a US doctor’s prognosis, as the 26-year-old can now shuffle and even drive a car
The couple plan to be married on New Year’s Eve in the United States, with Sam walking down the aisle with knee-braces for assistance
‘They’re just a remarkable couple together. The support and the energy they get from each other and the positivity is just amazing in itself,’ she said.
‘And their whole support network, rivals and friends from the sport. You never know how anyone is going to react and cope but you couldn’t fault one of them.’
Willoughby’s recovery has reached a point where he can cooks and live as normal a life as possible.
His progress is all the more remarkable considering he was given no hope of such progress immediately after the accident.
‘They said what he was, he was,’ his mother says.
‘That was it … He’s not going to get better than what he is.
‘That was pretty hard to take.’
‘They’re just a remarkable couple together. The support and the energy they get from each other…is just amazing,’ Sam’s mother, Sharon, said of the couple
Fortunately the surgeon who operated to relieve pressure on his spine was more positive than the head of the hospital’s trauma unit, noting that Willoughby was young, fit, strong and healthy – and that his big toe was moving.
‘You always hold that hope and you always knew that if anyone was going to do it, have a chance of improving or of that miracle ever happening, Sam would be the one,’ said Mrs Willoughby, who likens her son’s progress to that of a child’s.
‘It’s 15 months in and if you look at some little babies, they’re standing but they still need to hang on to something and they’re not that stable on their feet, but they can stand.
‘He’s at that stage. There’s definite movement there. Messages are getting through, but we don’t know how far it’s going to go. Is it going to stop at this now? Is it going to progress further?
‘I figure the next year’s going to be very interesting.’