'I was looking at the sky and thought, I've had a good run - I didn't know if I'd survive or not'

As he lay looking up at the sky, there was a fleeting moment when Ed Barrett was not sure whether he was going to survive.

Barrett had fallen in a point-to-point at Upcott Cross in Devon. Two other horses galloped over him and a hoof hit the exposed part of his neck between his helmet and his body protector.

"It felt like I'd been struck by a volt of electricity," he recalls. "It went down through my body and then I lost feeling in my legs. As the horse kicked me, my helmet came over my eyes but I couldn't lift my arms to move it. Weirdly, I was quite calm. I knew to keep still and keep breathing. I was looking at the sky and thought, 'I've had a good run'. I didn't know if I'd survive or not."

Barrett did survive, but he was paralysed from the neck down following that life-changing fall eight years ago and his worst fears were confirmed when he was told he might never walk again.

However, after a tortuous ten months of mental and physical recovery, he was able to start living independently in a wheelchair and to walk short distances using crutches.

Now the 35-year-old will again attempt to defy all reasonable expectations with his latest charity challenge: to walk to the summit of Mount Snowdon next month in aid of the Injured Jockeys Fund (IJF) and Midlands Air Ambulance.

Since his accident, life has been all about overcoming obstacles, particularly in the early stages of his recovery.

Ed Barrett with his Golden Retriever, Willow, on the hill he has been using to get fitCredit: Edward Whitaker

"I was awful to begin with," he says. "I couldn't accept it and shut myself away for two years. That's the process with a spinal cord injury. There's a grieving phase. It takes time to process but then you get bored of being depressed and you start to think about what's out there."

Barrett grew up in Bredenbury, Herefordshire, where his parents run a riding centre. He fell in love with racing and could be found charging up hills on the naughtiest ponies. After school, he studied to become a riding instructor but the pull of racing was too strong and he was caught skipping classes to ride out for Peter Scudamore.

The truth is he had always wanted to become a jockey. His racing career began during summers with Simon Sherwood aged 15 but started to take shape when he joined Polly Gundry five years later and had his first point-to-point rides. He rode 37 winners in points and one under rules in France for Guillaume Macaire.

After a brief stint with David Pipe, when he decided turning professional was not for him, he joined Henry Daly as an assistant trainer in 2014, while continuing to ride in point-to-points in Devon. The following season, Barrett had his accident.

Even after eight years, one might assume it is still a sensitive subject to broach. That does not prove to be the case. "Feel free to ask me anything you like," says Barrett, whose willingness to discuss it shows just how far he has come. What does he remember about that day?

"Pretty much everything," he replies. "I was riding a horse I'd won on twice before. He had risen through the ranks and seemed quite talented. For whatever reason he didn't take off at the fence. Then I was on the floor and felt a bang."

Panic began to set in when Barrett was told by the paramedics he had broken his neck and he was swiftly airlifted to Derriford hospital in Plymouth.

"The surgeon said I'd done a bloody good job of it," he says. "We had to sign a waiver before they could operate to basically recognise that I could die during the operation."

Ed Barrett: "I was riding a horse I'd won on twice before. For whatever reason he didn't take off at the fence. Then I was on the floor and felt a bang."Credit: Edward Whitaker

Barrett had broken and dislocated his neck in a matter of seconds. Repairing it was a much longer process. The plan was to rebuild it using metal plates and bone from his hip but first doctors had to straighten the dislocation. This required his head and neck to be held in traction, fixed in position for hours overnight.

Following a seven-hour operation, his neck was stable and the focus shifted to his recovery, beginning with a week in intensive care with a full-time nurse.

"I kept asking whether I was going to walk again," he says. "The doctor looked me dead in the eye and said that whatever happened I'd have some disability and would need to prepare for the worst. I just remember feeling a pit in my stomach.

"It was difficult for me as it was an incomplete spinal injury. There were a lot of unknowns so I didn't know how to deal with it. One minute you get a little bit of hope and then you're crushed along the way. There were setbacks all the time. You don't have a choice but to be resilient, otherwise you'll sit and cry all day."

The first few weeks were among the hardest. Barrett was unable to move in his bed and felt like he was on fire. He also struggled with his breathing but then came a glimmer of hope – he was able to wiggle his toes. It was early days but this gave him a renewed determination before moving to Oswestry Spinal Unit.

He remained bed-bound and "trapped" with his thoughts for the first ten weeks after the move before starting daily physio sessions. He was at the hospital for five months and was taught to live independently with a wheelchair. When he left, he was able to stand and could walk a few steps holding a Zimmer frame.

"I was motivated to kick on again," he says. "I remember being determined to leave the unit on my feet. I went most of the way in the wheelchair and asked the nurse if I could walk the final steps out of the door using the Zimmer frame."

The next four months of his recovery took place at the IJF's Oaksey House in Lambourn, where he learned to walk on crutches and still spends time each year.

Almost ten months after his fall, Barrett was finally able to return to his home.

"I didn't like it at first because everything was inaccessible and it was a strain on my mum to look after me," he says. "I didn't progress very well as I spent most of the day sitting in a chair watching TV, which didn't do much for me mentally."

He was shaken from his inertia by David Smith, an ex-military personal trainer with a "less gentle" approach than the physios he was accustomed to. He got into wheelchair tennis and rugby and became close with strength and conditioning coach Gavin Egan on his visits to Oaksey House.

Egan encouraged Barrett to take on a challenge and joined him for an unaided walk around the Newbury parade ring in 2018, which raised around £7,000. Two years later, Barrett took part in the Nine Lives Challenge, during which nine IJF beneficiaries completed a 560-mile virtual route and raised more than £85,000.

His next fundraiser will be his most testing. During the first weekend of August – the day will depend on the weather – he will begin walking up Mount Snowdon at 4am using specialised carbon fibre leg splints and crutches. He will be joined by a small team for the hike, which is expected to take between ten and 12 hours.

"I'm regretting it slightly as I don't know how my body will cope, but I've trained really hard," he says. "I've got some grass banks outside where I live and I've trained myself like a racehorse. I walk up and down – like going up the gallops."

The same drive that pushed Barrett to become a successful point-to-point jockey continues to shape his recovery. He knows his life will never return to the way it was before his accident. That will certainly never stop him from trying to push boundaries or providing encouragement for all those fighting similar battles.

Reflecting on the motivation behind his latest challenge, Barrett says: "I thought I was never going to have any sort of life, needing full-time care and oxygen. Now I live on my own, have my own home, play sports and help my parents to teach classes at the riding school. I live a good life, which I didn't think I was going to be able to have. As cringey as it sounds, I hope to inspire people."

If you wish to sponsor Ed Barrett ahead of his challenge, you can do so by following this link

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