Wheelchair rugby debut for spinal stroke teen

Tristan, 14, said: "There's a lot you don't think about until you are in a wheelchair"

A 14-year-old boy has made his competitive debut in wheelchair rugby just four months after a spinal stroke dramatically altered his life.

Tristan Nattrass, from Cambridgeshire, played rugby for Huntingdon Stags and had won a place on Northampton Saints' developing player programme.

The teenager suffered a stroke in October 2023, which left him without the full use of his legs, but was introduced to wheelchair rugby during his treatment at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.

His mother Delphine said: “There are still some days when it’s not easy, but Tristan’s attitude is so positive."

Tristan's parents, Delphine and Stephen, say their son's positive attitude is remarkable

Tristan told the BBC how he struggled to move after he suffered the stroke while staying over at a friend's house.

“I was aching in my legs, but I’d had a rugby match the week before and trained on the Thursday so I didn’t think anything of it,” he said.

“I tried to get off the bed but I couldn’t. I completely collapsed. I thought my legs were just dead.

“I tried going to the stairs, but I couldn’t. I had to shuffle down them to the bottom step.

“My mum saw me and knew I wasn’t well. I was carried to the car and driven to A&E."

'Positive mindset'

The stroke had caused a T8 spinal cord injury.

Tristan spent four weeks undergoing tests at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge before being transferred to Stoke Mandeville, near Aylesbury.

He was discharged last month but still returns for treatment.

“There’s a lot you don’t think about until you are in a wheelchair,” he said.

“Recovery is learning how to do stuff again and again. How to crawl. How to walk. You realise how inaccessible places are.

“I have to go a mile that way to go 10 metres this way. That’s my future. Finding new ways to get around stuff.

“The nurses and physios are amazing. They get you up, doing stuff you wouldn’t imagine. When I did the injury, I thought I wouldn’t be able to walk again. But the physios got me up.

“For me, if I don’t have a positive mindset I won’t get anywhere.

“So I get up in the morning, I go to school, then come home and do my homework, then my exercises. It’s all about having a positive mindset."

Tristan in training with Northampton Saints

Mrs Nattrass said she remembered the moment she saw her son at the bottom of the staircase, unable to move.

“I saw straight away that something was wrong,” she said.

“We can ask the question again and again ‘why?’, but at the end of the day we just have to get on with it.

“It’s about small steps. If you try to think too far ahead, you’ll be disappointed."

She has spent two months taking her son to Stoke Mandeville Hospital and says his positive attitude has been remarkable.

“There are still some days when it’s not easy, but Tristan’s attitude is so positive,” she said.

“We’ve met other people in wheelchairs living full lives. We do things differently. But we do everything.

“We talk a lot and we share our emotions. We make sure that we are all ok and that we check on each other."

'Phenomenal resilience'

Tristan says playing competitive rugby again has made a huge difference.

“I come home and am aching everywhere,” he said smiling.

“But I am playing competitive sport. It makes you happy. There is an adrenaline rush.

“Pushing the wheelchair, positioning myself, how to pass the ball, that’s the toughest part.

“But the rugby community are great people to be around. And I am still going to play for Saints.

• Listen: Tristan Natrass on The Saints Show on BBC Sounds

Tristan’s father Stephen admits that the family were still processing the last few months - and had started adapting their home.

“You don’t want to think too much about what happened and how you got there," he said.

“The change is monumental, but you crack on. You have to. As a parent you have no choice. You love your children. You do the best for them.”

Mr Nattrass says he and Delphine are incredibly proud of their son’s resilience.

“It’s phenomenal. He hasn’t had a down day and we are thrilled that wheelchair rugby has given him such a renewed energy,” he said.