Paralysed golfer ‘crying’ with emotion after returning to the fairways

• Golfer speaks of the emotion of getting back on the course
• Gary Neill was paralysed from the belly button down in 2012
• Hails the Paragolfer: “It was like I had my independence back”

A keen golfer who feared that he’d never be able to play the sport again has spoken of the overwhelming emotion of getting back out onto the course for the first time in three years.

Gary Neill, 43, was paralysed from the belly button down in September 2012 following a spinal trauma and presumed that his playing days were over. That was until he discovered the Paragolfer, a £20,000 machine which enables disabled people to play golf and other sports.

And when East Lothian club Craigielaw, a short drive from Gary’s home in Rosewell, Midlothian, followed the lead of Mearns Castle in Glasgow by purchasing a Paragolfer, Gary spent some time at the club’s driving range before describing the sheer emotion of returning to the fairways.

“It was like I had my independence back” – Gary Neill

“The first time I got out onto the six-hole course, I was actually crying,” said Gary, who had been a member at Swanston Golf Club for six-eight years and played most weekends before he was hospitalised. “My wife was there with the dog and she asked if I was ok. Hitting the shots, it just felt as though I’d never been away from the golf course and it was very emotional. It was like I had my independence back and it felt like everything was getting back to normality.

CONTINUES BELOW…

“When I first found out about my paralysis, I thought I’d never be able to play golf again. I used to play golf every weekend with my mates and to have not played for three years, without having known about the Paragolfer, it was a huge, huge relief.”

A lot of work went in over the latter six months of 2015 to get to that stage though. Gary worked extensively with Craigielaw professional David Laing to find what clubs would best suit him and has been indebted to golfclubs4cash in East Lothian who sorted him out with his clubs – Titleist AP1 irons and TaylorMade woods, all with ladies/senior shafts.

His swing has sure had an alteration, too. A lefty, or ‘cack-handed’ as he calls it, before his spinal trauma, Gary now swings with only his right arm, with his left hand down by his side.

“I don’t have as much movement in my left arm as I do in my right so one day I decided to try one-handed with my right arm,” he said. “I started hitting it 100 yards, then 120, even up to 150, so I knew from then that it was certainly the best way forward.”

CONTINUES BELOW…

Things are looking very positive for Gary as he looks forward to the new golf season but can’t help but be disappointed that he found out about the Paragolfer so long after first taking ill, and is concerned that people like him may not even know about the German-designed machine at all, as he hopes its profile can be raised.

“I was reading an article about the Paragolfers and at one of Trump’s courses in America, they have six, whereas we in Scotland have three in total,” he added. “In this day and age, I think that’s quite poor. And I’m sure there are many people across the UK with disabilities who have no idea that the Paragolfer exists.

“When I was in rehab, I wasn’t told about wheelchair tennis, the Paragolfer, anything like that. The Paragolfer can be used for shooting, fishing, not just golf. People don’t seem to know anything about it and it’s quite annoying. I’d love people to be able to have a go on it, even people who can walk. Just to see what it’s like.

“Somewhere down the line, when Craigielaw get their second Paragolfer, we’re hoping we can have an Edinburgh v Glasgow tournament, because Mearns Castle Golf Academy have two over there. That would be something fantastic to promote and other courses can hopefully look at that and say, ‘well if they’ve got Paragolfers, why haven’t we?’”

CONTINUES BELOW…

While arranging such a match and raising the profile of the Paragolfer are likely to be longer term aims for Gary, this year he’s determined to manage 18 holes for the first time and, more importantly, get back playing with his pals from Swanston again.

“My hope is that once I’ve completed 18 holes by myself a couple of times, I can then get the boys who I used to play with at Swanston down to Craigielaw and I can’t wait to go out with them and have that same banter that we used to.

“That’s one of the things I’ve missed the most about not being able to play, and I hope that they’ve missed playing with me, too. That’s what I’m looking forward to that more than anything.”

Paragolfers :: Your thoughts

Would you like to see more awareness of the Paragolfer considering the life-changing effect it has had on Gary? Leave your thoughts in the ‘Comments’ section below.