Newcastle United fan’s sudden ‘horrific’ spine injury which changed his life forever

A leading North East solicitor went to a football match as a teenager, only to suffer a devastating spinal injury which left him confined to a wheelchair.

Now at 53, Mick Laffey, a respected personal injury lawyer who even appeared – as himself – in Ken Loach film I, Daniel Blake, has marked Spinal Injury Awareness Day (May 13) by speaking out about what happened. The avid Newcastle United fan now works for legal firm Burnetts.

One fateful day in 1989 he was in London en route to a football match when suddenly, out of nowhere, he was hit by “excruciating pain” in his legs. Doctors were initially baffled by what had stuck down a seemingly healthy teenage boy, but he was eventually diagnosed with a condition known as AVM – Arteriovenous Malformation.

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What this means is that a web of rogue blood vessels inside his spinal cord burst without warning. Mick said the experience was akin to “being dipped into a vat of boiling oil up to my belly button”.

Over the years, Mick’s own injuries have inspired his work helping people afflicted by serious injury, and now he has written a series of blogs reflecting on his own case and how he has used his experience throughout his life. Mick has even competed in the Great North Run in a racing wheelchair.

At work, he especially works with people who have experienced brain and spinal injuries, along with amputations. He said: “I thought sharing my personal experience might be of help to anyone just starting to manage their own life with a spinal injury. I was a healthy teenager one day heading to a football match and the next I was in hospital being prodded and poked by people who had no idea what was the matter with me.

“When you have had it all and have “it all” taken away from you, it’s really hard to adjust physically and mentally. My view is that you have no option – you either go out and live your life or you don’t.”

Mick, who is also a regular on TV quiz shows, has spoken about how his injury happened just a fortnight following the Hillsborough disaster. He had been living in Sheffield at the time and just days before his catastrophic injury he had sought to help Liverpool fans waiting desperately for news of their injured mates in the South Yorkshire city.

In the first of his blogs, Mick wrote how in the run-up to Newcastles’ game versus Wimbledon that April, he had gradually discovered severe pain spreading throughout his legs and his lower body. At the match, he said he approached the St John Ambulance team, and at this point: “They decided it was probably wise to get me across to hospital as this was out of their comfort zone. They had no idea what to do – which I can’t really blame them for.

“They got me into the back of an antiquated ambulance and I remember laying down on the stretcher in the back. By now the pain was up to my belly button. And I mean my belly button. It felt as though two cars had been tied to my legs and they were driving in opposite directions. It truly felt as though I was being torn apart through the groin. Imagine that for a moment. It was absolutely horrific. I can barely describe how painful or scary it was. What on earth was going on?”

He said the “horrific” pain was so bad he thought if it travelled further up his body, he might die. Fortunately, this didn’t happen, but the injury has had a lifelong impact.

Mick’s eight part blog is available to read on the Burnetts’ website. Along with its office in Newcastle and Newcastle., Burnetts has offices in both Carlisle and Cockermouth. The company operates across a whole host of sectors including both business and personal.

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