East Ayrshire footballer achieves the impossible after being told he'd never walk again
Kyle Ritchie was 13 when a blood clot in his back tore his spinal cord.
Last updated 25th May 2023
An East Ayrshire teen who was told he’d never walk again is telling Clyde 1 that his determination to play football again helped him achieve the impossible.
Kyle Ritchie was 13 years old when he was taken to hospital with a back injury after collapsing in training. After initially thinking it would only be a few months out with a slipped disc, his family were then told a blood clot in his back had torn his spinal cord.
Kyle had no feeling from his ribs down and doctors told him he’d live the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
Now, four years later, Kyle has proved everyone wrong. Just last week he scored a goal for Darvel FC in their final match of the season in the 67th minute.
However, it was a long road to get to this stage, and it started only three months after the injury which doctors diagnosed as a fibrocartilaginous embolism.
Both he and his family were amazed when he started to wiggle his toe while in the spinal unit.
At the age of 17, Kyle is speaking with Clyde 1 about his determination and the moment he realised walking was going to be possible.
He said: “I saw my big left toe move, and then eventually it was my knee moving and my right leg moving. I just thought to myself, I can do this, it’ll be easy.
“My motivation was people saying you can do this or you can’t do this anymore, and I just like proving people wrong to be honest.
“I knew I couldn’t live my life in a wheelchair, and I just knew I could sit there and be sad about it or I could go do something about it.”
Once walking, the next thing on Kyle’s mind was playing again. It took only a year until he was able to walk back on the pitch with his boyhood team, Galston. He played ten minutes and at that moment achieved the impossible.
He added: “It was brilliant being back on the pitch and seeing everyone clap me on. I obviously had to play different, and I wasn’t as fast as I was. I didn’t score but the feeling of being on a pitch and experiencing that feeling again was incredible.”
His mum Donna Burns has been by his side the entire time, and to this day is still in complete awe of her son.
She said: “To see him go through what he has, with such positivity and his ability to push himself has been amazing.
“It was unreal, and I am so proud of him because I couldn’t have and don’t know anyone else who could have achieved what he has.
“His attitude was absolutely amazing, from day one when they were hoisting him out of the bed and get him into a wheelchair and he was laughing.
“Everyone at the spinal unit loved him. He was the youngest there and wouldn’t ever complain or say no to anything asked of him by the nurses. I don’t know how he did it.”