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A man has been left paralysed from the neck down after suffering a freak accident whilst on holiday with his family. Michael Wells, 28, jetted off to Hungary with his parents and siblings in September for his cousin’s wedding and decided to go on a paddle boarding excursion whilst there. But tragically, the outdoor-lover broke his neck after diving into the water whilst with his mum in Lake Balaton.

After diving in, Michael hit his head off the lakebed and was seen floating in the water. Michael, a former Edinburgh student who was just two weeks away from starting a new job in the Scottish capital, will now require support for the rest of his life after suffering catastrophic injuries.

Michael told his family after being rushed to hospital: “I heard and felt my neck break when my head hit the bottom. I couldn’t move my arms of my legs. I knew I was paralysed and I thought I was going to drown. Somehow, I just told myself to hold my breath.”

Following the incident, Michael’s father Andy began giving his son mouth-to-mouth after he stopped breathing on the shoreline once he was dragged from the water. His mum Christina, an NHS nurse, and sister Seòna performed chest compressions in a desperate bid to keep him alive while waiting for paramedics.

Michael was then transferred to hospital by emergency helicopter where he was placed in intensive care. Tragically, his family were later told he was paralysed from the waist down and won’t regain movement in his arms or his legs.

Seòna Wells, his sister, told Express.co.uk: “Michael is stable and doing really well. He’s turned a corner with his infections and is eager to crack on with the next steps in his rehabilitation. He’s thinking more about the future and has been really overwhelmed to see all the support for him on the fundraiser we set up.

“Our parents have recently retired from the NHS, having spent their careers nursing and caring for others. They will now dedicate the rest of their lives nursing and caring for Michael. Michael will not be able to do any form of basic self-care, such as washing, dressing and feeding himself. He will be reliant on others and on modern technology from now on.

“Michael has been incredibly strong in the face of his paralysis. In the first days after his injury, while processing the immense shock of what happened to him, he was mostly concerned about how others in the family were coping, which so well illustrates his brave and caring spirit.

“We all want to give Michael the best possible future we can so he can still live a fulfilling life. There is a long road ahead but easing the financial strain will make that journey a little less difficult. It was a popular public swimming spot and there were many people there that day. Michael wanted to swim and let mum have a shot of paddling so dived into the water off the paddleboard from a kneeling position. They were about 50 metres from the shore, but the water was cloudy and deceptively shallow.”

Kept in Hungary for two weeks, Michael was then able to be medically transferred back to Scotland, where he was admitted to the National Spinal Injuries Unit at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, where he remains.

However, despite the horrifying ordeal, Michael’s family explained his attitude has been amazing, with the 28-year-old desperate to find a new way to carry on.

With a long road to recovery ahead, the family have launched a fundraiser to try and cover some of the costs that they and Michael will face in the coming weeks and months.

Seòna continued: “Michael will need specialist equipment in order to improve his quality of life. These include a wheelchair accessible vehicle, specially adapted wheelchair for outdoors, additional modifications to the family home, accessible activities and voice, eye, and head controlled devices as he will not have use of his hands.”

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The GoFundMe has nearly reached its goal of £80,000 after being created last week to help the family with additional costs. 

Seòna said: “We are so overwhelmed by the response already in such a short time. It just goes to show how many people care about Michael, which is truly heart-warming. Your donations are going to make such a huge difference to his quality of life.

“Michael wishes to return to his family home to live with his parents, which is also what they wish. His battles are relentless, fighting recurring infections, further operations on his neck, living with a tracheostomy and training his diaphragm to breath – hopefully – without the help of a ventilator, to name but a few. He has been through so much already and his journey is only just beginning. Michael is totally aware of what has happened and has been kept fully informed by medical staff at every stage. His brain is fortunately completely undamaged. 

“Michael has such a strong will to survive, and with the support of his family and friends there is little doubt that he will not just survive but go on to live a fulfilling life.”

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