Trampolinist Lucy Horan is flying high after breaking her neck in trampolining accident

Sheffield Girls' student and trampolinist Lucy Horan, 17 has made an incredible comeback after breaking her neck in a trampolining accident. Following a year long recovery, she finished third in the 17-21 ladies age group for trampolining at the 2018 English Championships, held at the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield, last weekend (13-14 Oct).

Two years ago, during a practice session before the 2016 British Championships, Lucy lost her sighting during her routine, which caused her to land on her neck and shoulders, shattering vertebrae and requiring emergency surgery to put eight screws, a metal plate, a fake disc and two rods in her neck.

Recovery took nine months of doing no exercise, then a careful return to the trampoline doing only the most basic of bounces. Despite everything being stacked against her, including being told that she’d never be able to trampoline again, Lucy is now competing again.

Speaking about her comeback, Lucy said “If you have a passion for something, don’t let other people say you can’t do it. I said to myself that whatever walls I’m going to hit I will make it back.”

This week, Lucy has been featured on several news outlets explaining how she’s beating the odds to continue representing Great Britain at trampolining and her future plans. She has her sights firmly fixed on a high flying career in the RAF.

She has also been selected to join a group of the most talented GDST students attending the BT Sport Action Woman Awards on Monday 3 in London.

Lucy will be competing for Sheffield Girls’ at the Yorkshire Regional Trampoline Competition on December 1, and hopes to keep working to reach her peak performance - her competitors can all agree she’s one to watch.