Rugby player helped on road to recovery by pet dog Crunchie

A RUGBY player paralysed during a game has been aided back to health by his pet dog called Crunchie.

Devastated Connor Hughes feared he would never walk again after he was badly injured playing the sport he loved.

The 21-year-old could only move his eyes and mouth after suffering spinal damage and had to spend months in hospital. Doctors fitted tiny electronic implants to his spine which have started to bring his legs back to life.

In hospital he was helped by a therapy dog, a black Labrador called Jasper – and Connor vowed to get his own pup as soon as he left.

Now he’s returned home and revealed how his one-year-old Rottweiler, Crunchie, is providing “huge support” in his rehabilitation.

Connor, of Kelso, Roxburghshire, said: “Crunchie’s been my saviour, especially during my first wee while at home, which was really tough.

“They say a dog is man’s best friend – and I couldn’t agree more!”

Determined Connor is even training Crunchie, who was bought from a breeder in Larbert, to open doors for him.

“She’s not that well trained at the minute but she’s getting better,” Connor admitted. But he added: “I’d be lost without her because she comes with me everywhere I go.”

Connor was injured in an “unlucky” tackle while playing in Dundee for Stirling University against Harris Academy FPs in September 2014.

He had just intercepted an opposition pass when he was tackled hard and heard a sickening “crack” in his neck as he thudded into the ground.

The impact badly displaced his vertebrae, and his spinal cord was so damaged he was paralysed from the shoulders down.

Incredibly, his catastrophic injury came five years to the day since Nick Watt, his former prefect at Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh, was paralysed in a rugby match.

Connor was initially treated at the Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries Unit in Glasgow, before a journey across the globe to receive expert treatment.

Last September he went to Bangkok, Thailand, where he was fitted with 16 electronic implants along his spine.

They can be switched on at the push of a button – sending electrical pulses to the nerves he uses to control his legs, allowing him to feel, despite being paralysed.

Connor also uses an exercise bike which sends electronic signals to his legs – allowing him to pedal – at the gym he has created at home with mum Fiona, 49, and stepdad Gavin, 53.

They have been amazed by his improvement since the accident – and Connor’s progress has given him hope he may one day walk again.

He said: “Before I got the stimulator, the movement was absolutely zero. Then, after it was fitted, I could raise my knee. It was absolutely crazy.

“The first time I stood up in Thailand was so bizarre because I could feel my weight going through my hips and knees.

“At that stage, I hadn’t been standing for over a year and to go from that to actively standing is pretty incredible.”

And the sky’s the limit for Connor, who hopes to return to university within the next two years to study astrophysics or astronomy.

“I just need to keep working on it with less and less support. Then maybe I will be able to walk with a walker in front of me. That’s definitely the goal.”

Connor’s sister Sarah Hughes, 30, said she was “incredibly proud” of her younger brother’s achievements.

The mum-of-two added: “His accident was such a life-changing thing to happen to someone so young but he’s shown remarkable maturity. He’s been so brave and worked so hard to get as much movement back as possible.”

She said of Crunchie: “She’s a big part of the family but Connor is her number one!”

For updates on Connor’s recovery, read his blog at www.lindeanlore.co.uk

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