Paralympic hero battles through gruelling op
David Smith on the mend after spine surgery
Aviemore paralympic athlete David Smith says he's feeling "very good" after his life-saving surgery "went well".
The 37-year-old says he'll have to learn to walk again after the 9-hour procedure to sort out a tumour near his spine.
Smith won gold in rowing at the London Paralympics in 2012 and hoped to compete in Rio this summer in cycling, despite learning that a tumour on his spine had returned. He planned to put off surgery until after this summer's games but received the news the growing tumour is just 8mm from his spine and if left would crush his spinal cord and stop him breathing. He went into surgery on Tuesday and afterwards spent time in intensive care following the gruelling operation. As he predicted himself on arriving in hospital, he is now readying himself for the challenge of having to learn to walk again. This is the fourth operation on his tumour. Smith won gold following two operations on his spine and was briefly left paralysed after major surgery in 2010 which involved surgeons cutting into his spinal cord and removing three vertebrae. Although initially unable to walk, he was determined to return to sport and as complications caused by the surgery ruled out rowing, he turned to paracycling instead - setting his sights on Rio. He was awarded an MBE in the New Year's Honours list for 2012.