‘Horror bike smash paralysed me from ribs down – it wasn’t even my worst crash’
A teen who was left wheelchair-bound after he fell 50ft in a horror motorcycle accident is set to make an historic return to racing.
Noah Cosby, 18, had big dreams to become a motocross athlete before his injury and had set his sights on moving to the US after school to go pro with the sport.
But in March 2020 he stumbled on a 50ft jump during a training session and plummeted to the ground, breaking his back.
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"I've had crashes that have looked worse," he told the Daily Star.
"I thought I was really winded because I'd slammed my chest into the bars, but I thought that was all that was wrong with me.
"I went to stand up and nothing really responded and I thought, 'okay, this is maybe a little bit worse than I thought.'"
Noah suffered an incomplete injury that "stretched" his spinal cord, leaving him almost completely paralysed from the ribs down.
He was rushed to Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury but transferred to John Radcliffe Hospital when they found the injury was serious.
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"I was probably in denial, but I also didn't really understand spinal cord injuries and how serious they really are," he added.
"I thought, 'I'll go to the hospital and they'll fix me in surgery and I'll be fine in a week.'"
At John Radcliffe, Noah was subjected to a gruelling six-hour-long operation and put on a feeding tube.
He then spent seven weeks recovering in the hospital's children's ward to "get his organs working again" after they were impacted by the fall.
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After that, he was transferred back to Stoke Mandeville where nearly three months were spent adjusting to his new life in a wheelchair – all during the Covid pandemic, meaning he couldn't even see his mum.
Altogether, he reckons he spent about 22 weeks in the hospital.
After returning to school to complete his A-levels, Noah is now in his gap year and is fully focused on getting better.
Thanks to the treatment he is now receiving at the Matt Hampson Foundation, he's finally able to walk short distances with the help of a therapist.
The foundation is also where he met Team BRIT GT4 driver Aaron Morgan, introducing him to his new passion – racecar driving.
Noah is now one of the newest recruits to Team BRIT, a group of drivers aiming to be the first-ever all-disabled team to race in the famous Le Mans 24-hour endurance race.
The organisation has developed advanced hand control technology, enabling disabled drivers to race competitively, and something Noah uses to help him drive the cars.
"[It's so] inclusive as a team and moving forward into a world that is more accepting of disability," he added.
"It's the only all-disabled racing team competing against able-bodied racers."
Now, Noah is hoping to apply to art school but plans to continue racing when he can.
He also hopes he'll be able to make more of a recovery as he is "still young".
"In my head, I'm not settling for living in a wheelchair for my whole life because it's… it's not ideal," he laughed.
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