KARLSTAD. Samuel Rudholm was 24 years old when he dived in Klarälven.
It had devastating consequences.
Now, just over a year later, he has completed a running competition – in a wheelchair.
The heat has been a heavy blanket over large parts of Europe. It is also noticeable in Vålberg in Värmland.
It is oppressively hot in the quiet residential area a little outside Karlstad, despite the fact that it is almost nine o’clock in the evening this Thursday.
Samuel Rudholm sits at the kitchen table in the family villa. He has been forced to move back here after the accident that changed his life.
– I was bedridden for almost four months without being able to move my arms or head. I had to learn how to breathe and how to talk myself, says Samuel, who was paralyzed from the chest down.
– It was a difficult situation to digest.
The group of friends shocked
Samuel knew immediately that something was wrong, which also NWT rewritten.
It was the night of July 20 last year and his forehead had just hit a sandbar in the Klarälven, which runs through central Karlstad.
– I felt that it must be the neck because everything below the neck radiated and became very hot. But I couldn’t touch anything.
To a shocked group of friends – including his two brothers – Samuel explained that he had broken his neck and that someone had to call an ambulance. He also urged them not to lift him out of the water.
– In the situation, I felt that I was very aware and involved. But I think it’s almost just the shock that made me so, he says.
Half a year in hospital
Samuel was first taken to the emergency room in Karlstad and then by ambulance helicopter to Uppsala. There, the doctors told us that in the dive he had crushed a neck vertebra and damaged the spinal cord.
It was the start of a long and arduous journey to get back to life.
Samuel – who has always been an active person, who was passionate about his job in the mining industry and who had just started his first paid holiday – was forced to spend almost six months in hospital.
At the same time, the family had to adapt the villa so that Samuel could move home. Among other things, a long ramp was installed next to the front door.
“Absolutely fantastic”
Since then, Samuel has had time to turn 25. He has a sunburn on his face. Likewise on arms and knees.
It’s not so strange.
On Wednesday, he participated in the Karlstad city race. The idea was born last spring by one of Samuel’s personal assistants, Katja Johansson. She was also the one who ran the race together with Samuel in the wheelchair. Both were enthusiastically cheered on by family and friends.
– Samuel was aware so I didn’t hit anyone. He was my eyes and I was his legs, says Katja Johansson.
The running competition is ten kilometers long and runs through central Karlstad. This year, the race was also carried out within the framework of the SM week which is organized in the city this week.
The goal was to reach the finish line within an hour and a half. Samuel and Katja made it to the finish line in one hour and seven minutes.
– It was absolutely fantastic. To be able to leave my room and be part of something bigger. To feel like everyone else. It was incredibly fun, says Samuel.
Collection started
He praises the support he has received from family, friends and work.
The only thing he is critical of is the lack of support from healthcare in connection with the rehabilitation. Samuel calls for greater commitment and more help with training.
– There is potential for improvement there. I have to drive a lot by myself and try to train as much as possible.
Since the spinal cord was not completely severed in connection with the diving accident, it is unclear how much function Samuel can regain in his body.
The family has started one fundraising on Gofundme for Samuel to travel to Germany, where there is specialized care in high-intensity, robot-assisted, walking training.
The goal: Samuel will learn to walk again.
– I want to get as much function back as possible and there has been incredible progress this year. I am incredibly determined to be myself again. Both mentally and physically, says Samuel.
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