1 week Ago
Olympic gold medallist Canter has since pledged to run the 26.2-mile course on the 27th April for Spinal Research in honour of Cresswell and to raise money for research into spinal injuries. While the pair had been unsuccessful in the ballot, Canter committed to a charity place after Cresswell damaged her spinal cord in a fall at Bramham Horse Trials.
“It was a bit of a shock because I knew we hadn't got in. It’s amazing to do it and so, so nice of her to put herself through the training without me,” said Cresswell. “But doing it for Spinal Research is just brilliant and it's so prominent in our sport as well so hopefully it'll help more people than just me.
” Canter, who took team eventing gold at Paris 2024, has already raised over twice her initial target of £3,000 in her fundraising goals for a cause that is incredibly important to the eventing community. The sport comes with its fair share of danger as rider and horse take on three disciplines of cross country, dressage, and show-jumping, but it results in a uniquely close-knit community that proved vital in Cresswell’s recovery. “I was in hospital for four months and in total I had five days without a visitor,” recalled Cresswell.
“They were absolutely amazing and really supportive. I had lots of people at the end of the phone if I needed someone to talk to. “It definitely made a huge difference in my stay and probably brought a bit more normality into the hospital for me.
” The event rider from Worcestershire was just 23 years old at the time of the fall which left her paralysed from the chest down. “I knew instantly that I couldn't feel my legs. I was rushed to hospital, had surgery and was in intensive care for 10 days in Leeds,” said Cresswell.
“I'm a very positive person so I remained quite positive at the beginning and was optimistic about getting my feeling back and being able to walk again. “It wasn't until six weeks in that the realisation hit that that probably wouldn't be the case. “That was challenging within itself and emotionally it's very hard going from being such a busy athlete and having such a busy life to lying bed bound for a number of weeks.
” It saw Cresswell’s life change overnight having been on the road to eventing success from a young age. Having started riding at three years old, she began eventing at just 13 and earned selection to the European Championships a year later. She went on to win European gold and two silvers before she was under-16 and finished eighth in the under-25 Championships at Bramham International in 2022.
It was while training in Lincolnshire that she struck up a friendship with defending Agria European Championship winner Canter. But while Cresswell is still learning to accept her new reality, she is determined that one day she could join Canter in the London Marathon one day. “There's still a lot of unknown.
I'm back doing some coaching which I love and I really want to get into sports presenting,” she said. “I also took up wheelchair racing very quickly after leaving the hospital. I did my first 10k race in Lincoln a couple of weeks ago and I'm hoping to get into that more seriously.
“I would love to [do the London Marathon], especially as Ros is doing it now. It's definitely something I'm quietly thinking about for the years to come.”.
