Team GB gold medal hero with four months to live sends heartbreaking message | Other | Sport

A Paralympic gold medallist has been left paralysed from the neck down and believes he will not return home again apart from for his funeral, stating he only has four months to live. Dave Smith, 47, suffers from a spinal tumour which has now reached his brain. The former Team GB rower can only communicate via a messaging system.

“On Thursday I was moved to palliative care and told that I have four months to live,” he said. “I’m going to fight with every will in my body, but I’m also aware my time on this planet is coming to an end.”

Dave, who was raised in the Scottish Highlands, initially had surgery for a tumour within his spinal cord in 2010. He experienced temporary paralysis, a complication that was subsequently identified as being caused by a blood clot.

Last August, he observed blurred vision, exhaustion and severe headaches, which he at first attributed to excessive television viewing whilst recovering from an injury.

However, his relatives became worried when he grew detached and irritable, and in October he underwent surgery. Medical professionals confirmed he had tumours in his brain.

Speaking over the weekend, Dave revealed he had begun to feel “a little bit sick” last Wednesday afternoon.

“By 3pm I was completely paralysed from the neck down, but I’m gonna try and push as long as I can,” he said.

“It’s kind of crazy to have started the week going down to the gym, travelling to Holland to speak to Nike and then end the week lying in a hospital bed unable to move.

“All I want to do is get back home. I didn’t realise the next time I will be returning home might possibly be for my funeral. I feel this is harder for my family and friends than it is for me since I feel like I’ve had so much time to prepare for this.

“I’m always humbled to see my face appear on the wall in Kingussie High School. I just wish I could’ve attended in person to talk to the youngsters about the importance of chasing a dream.

“I am now planning to get my medal framed and to give it to Newtonmore Primary School, as even growing up in a small Highland village you can travel the world and represent your country.”

Dave was born with a club foot and spent the first three years of his life having his bones repeatedly broken and reset to correct the alignment.

He was chosen for the team that represented Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in the mixed coxed four event at Eton Dorney, where they clinched gold.

In 2013, he was honoured as a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year Honours for his contributions to rowing.