That'll teach me to stick my neck out

Tom is keeping his spirits up

Tom Somerville,16, suffered a serious injury when falling awkwardly during a game of rugby.

He lost all feeling, and feared the worst. Doctors soon confirmed he had broken his neck.

Here, he describes his immediate emotion, and the first weeks following his life-threatening injury.

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1 November:

I'd been looking forward to this game as it had been raining during the week so the ground would be softer and the conditions better for the forwards like me.

I was playing hooker for the Harrow Silverbacks against UCS Old Boys. They were a fast team and got two tries pretty quickly.

Twenty minutes into the game I scooped up a loose ball and drove into their 22, going for the try line.

Two defenders hit me at once and I landed hard, head down. Immediately, their forwards then rucked over the top of me.

I felt my head squashed into the ground and got a really bad pain in the neck. I immediately lost all feeling in my legs.

I knew I'd broken my neck.

As I lay on the ground waiting for the ambulance, I thought of Max Brito, the Ivory Coast captain, who broke his neck during the 1995 World Cup (the year I started playing rugby).

I was very scared and didn't know if I was going to die before they got me to hospital.

My dad was by my side straight away, as he captains the team I play in - and my mum rushed on from the touchline.

Rugby is physically demanding

They flew me to Stoke Mandeville by helicopter but I can't remember anything of that.

I do know that just before they put me in the copter, they gave me an anti-nausea drug, which made me drowsy - I thought I was dying.

I next remember lying in a dark hospital room in a lot of pain. The doctors and nurses examined me, shaved my head at the sides, stuck in a needle and drilled two holes in my skull to put me in traction.

I had broken my neck and pushed two vertebrae out of line. I still couldn't feel my legs.

But all I could think of was phoning a mate, Aaron, I was due to meet to tell him I'd not be there.

The night was long, painful and scary.

2 November:

Can't remember much about this day apart from a kind Irish nurse and another one called Jordana, who were very good to me.

I'm on traction and they keep putting on more weights, which is horrible.

Asked Dad if I'd ever play rugby again - but he says the doctors had said it was too early to say

Seems I've got to have an op to put the neck back in line. I've broken it at C4 and C5 and the vertebrae need to be put back in line.

Just before they put me out, I got Dad to phone and find if the Harrow Under13s had won - Dad and I had helped train their forwards for the game.

They had won, and I went to the theatre a bit happier. I also found out the Silverbacks had won their game after I was taken off.

I was taken down for the op and the anaesthetist said he'd give me some gin to put me out.

That was about 5pm. The next thing I knew I was waking up feeling crappy and it was nine o'clock. But they say the op was a success and the neck and the spinal column are in line again.

3 November:

Just a blur.

4 November:

Since the op I haven't been allowed to drink and my mouth and throat are really dry - dying for water.

Asked Dad if I'd ever play rugby again - but he says the doctors had said it was too early to say, but there was a chance I wouldn't.

But I've seen wheelchair rugby on TV - if I can't play on my feet, I'll do it on wheels.

But I was very sad at the thought I might not play again. Pleased when Mum and Dad say I might be able to swim as part of my treatment.

5 November:

First drink of water! It feels really good, cool!

6 November:

Something to eat at last - orange jelly - tastes really good.

In the evening it's veggie soup - wouldn't normally touch it but it tastes great.

They moved me from the post-op bit of the ward to another part with a guy called Jason who's been badly injured in a motorbike accident - good to have someone new to talk to.

7 November:

Tom and his parents on holiday

I've got a telly over the bed and watch trash morning TV - Rise on C4, which is tacky but great.

Now eating more but remembering how, er, dull hospital food is - toast like damp cardboard.

Still pissed off and worried about what'll happen but glad my brain's working 100%.

Mr Derry, the consultant says I've got huge inflammation in the neck and the spinal column and this is making any really accurate long-term forecast difficult.

He's been very honest with me and said I might be in a wheelchair for a very long time if there has been permanent damage to the spinal chord.

Until now Mum and Dad have been there all the time and I have had some family visits (my three grandparents), which is good, but today one of my old teachers, Dave Hughes, comes to see me, which was great and we have a bit of a joke, cos he's a geezer!

My oldest friend, Matt arrives and we just sit and talk - it's great just to talk to him.

Have had loads of cards from friends, everyone at school and from the rugby club.

And loads of txts - my Dad is my text slave, but he's a bit bloody slow wiv it!

8 November:

Started watching the Scotland-Oz rugby game but the hospital chaplain dam well turns up talks all over it and I miss lots of it.

A bit sick this morning, which is crappy. But Nick, Henry, Pete and Buccy from my old school drop in to see me, which is cool and then my two cousins, Risto and Elisa.

9 November:

Watch England beat Wales - only just.

Lucky my heart monitor has been unclipped or I would have busted the machine!

My mates Matt and Tom G come up - which is hectic. And my really close friend Jenny with her sister Iona.

The boss of my rugby club - Andy Smart - comes up too. He's a copper and he interrogates me about under age drinking - but I don't crack - he'll be back.

But it was a good laugh. How many non-existent pub names can I think before next time?

10 November:

Quieter day. But Jenny and Iona here again in the evening. Jenny is pretty decent.

11 November:

Great - they took me out of the ward for a shower - the water felt so good. I feel really clean for the first time. Then it's the wheelchair.

They put me in it with a hoist, which is really weird and I take ephedrine to get my blood pressure up. But it's good to be upright and OUT OF BED.

It feels uncomfortable at first and I have to get Mum or Dad to hold my shoulders because I feel like I'm falling forward all the time.

I also feel dizzy some of the time but that goes soon. I'm only in the chair for 30 minutes but will do more each day.

Jenny, Celine, Aaron and Dean - great that they come all the way (and by train) for me.

12-18 November:

I want to be able to use a computer again and they say I might.

All the days are a bit samey now so I'll do the whole week.

I wake up, am given painkillers if I need them, have a wash or a shower and then get some occupational health therapy or physio in my bed.

They're working on getting my arms and hands working again.

My left arm moves quite a bit and I can move the hand from side to side more easily - but no bloody movement in my fingers worth mentioning. My right arm is worse but I can move it a bit.

They're really working on my arms, which is tiring, so I can do more for myself as soon as possible. I want to be able to use a computer again and they say I might.

Then I can get back to my work - history, double media studies and sociology. I want to take my A levels and go to university - and then become a journalist.

During the week I step up my time in the wheelchair which is good but still tiring.

My friends who come - like Jenny and Matt - can push me round and even take me outside.

By the end of the week I'm up to four hours in the chair.

19 November:

Move to the rehab ward and see Jason again and some other guys I've met - it's good to be where I'll stay for a while and to know people who are like me and have the same fight ahead.

First session in the gym working on my arms. I get impatient to go before the ephedrine's kicked in and I nearly faint when they put me in the chair.

But it's worth it when I get to the gym and start working. Doing something at last.

Mr Derry says in the next week or two they'll start setting my longer term goals.

They still can't say whether I'll get any feeling back below the chest - if I don't then I'd better get used to a wheelchair.

I want to walk again but I know it might not happen. Shit happens and this time it's happened to me. But I'm going to fight it.

One bit of good news, Harrow Social Services are looking at our house today to see what needs to be done to enable me to go for home visits in the future and then eventually - maybe four to five months' time - to go home I can't wait!