Jaime Lunn: Paralysed mountain biker fundraising to adapt home

A man who was left paralysed after a mountain biking crash is raising money to modify his home, after struggling to access charity grants.

Jaime Lunn, 46, from Addingham, West Yorkshire, came off his bike on Ilkley Moor on 25 April, sustaining spinal injuries which left him tetraplegic.

He said access to rehabilitation has been limited due to Covid-19, and there was a long wait for council support.

Mr Lunn wants to raise £75,000 to make vital changes to his family home.

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He has raised more than £30,000 already, with donations to a crowdfunding account set up by a friend.

Since returning home he has spent most of his time in one room, making it difficult to be with his partner Caroline McCullough and two children, Florence, nine, and Seth, seven.

The family hope to adapt their home, widening doorways, lowering worktops in the kitchen and making an accessible bathroom.

Mr Lunn said: "When I spoke to the adaptations team in Bradford Council they advised me I would wait at least six months before someone would even assess what my needs were, meaning that I would be inevitably housebound."

On the day of the accident, Mr Lunn, who works as a manager for Apple, came off his bike near White Wells and was found by a passing walker.

He was then stretchered off the moor and taken to Leeds General Infirmary, where doctors told him he had a C5-C6 spinal injury.

Ms McCullough said: "He went into intensive care, and they were keen to say to us both that he wasn't going to walk again. It was brutal.

"They had to get him through the surgery and rebuild his face and then he was in a neck brace, he had to be fed.

"I wasn't allowed to visit him, and it was months before he saw the children and our dog when he was well enough to be brought outside by a therapist."

She said they now pay for Mr Lunn to see a physiotherapist who specialises in spinal injuries privately, and need to raise money so they can afford to make basic changes in their home.

The family have been helped by Ilkley Round Table, who adapted their front path for wheelchair access, but say more needs to be done.

"It's a very tough time but he is really determined," Ms McCullough said.

Bradford Council has been approached for comment.

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