Brave Mansfield dad who beat the odds to take up golf again hosting a fundraising night at Coxmoor Golf Club

James Hart 33, is looking for support for the charity night at Coxmoor golf club Tomorrow (March 16) at 6.30pm in aid of the Transverse Myelitis Society.

James hit the headlines recently after he announced he was planning a 190 mile walk in aid of charity after being given only a 30 per cent chance of walking again after being partially paralysed.

James, of Beverley Drive, Mansfield, was admitted to hospital two and a half years ago with pneumonia and pleurisy. When he thought he was on the mend he woke up with a numbness down his left hand side which quickly spread. He was then diagnosed with transverse myelitis, a condition that interrupts the messages the spinal cord sends throughout the body. It caused nerve damage and partial paralysis, he was told he would only have a 30 per cent chance of walking again.

James, a former care manager, said: “it was a complete shock as I’ve got two young children. One day I could walk and the next I couldn’t. Emotionally it effects you as you do think it can’t be happening to you and why did it happen “With doctors not knowing much about it you are kept guessing at what will happen which makes it worse.”

In his youth James was a keen golfer and was advised by physiotherapists that golf might be able to speed up his recovery.

After a year and a half of physiotherapy he has returned to Coxmoor Golf Club playing with a seven handicap and reached the semi finals of the clubs match play competition.

The charity night will feature a quiz, food and an auction of sporting memorabilia.