An Aberdeen teenager who broke his back in a horrific sledging accident is to climb the Eiffel Tower just seven months after it happened.
Filip Cegar, 13, had to learn to walk again after the accident in December 2022, in which he broke both his back and breastbone.
Surgeons at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital (RACH) had to realign the Cults Academy pupil’s spine and fix his spinal cord in place to prevent any further damage.
It was the first time surgeons at the hospital had carried out the procedure.
He was then transferred to the Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries Unit in Glasgow, where he had to learn to walk again.
Now Filip has made such a positive recovery he is preparing to leave for Paris next week to climb the 674 steps up the Eiffel Tower for charity – despite undergoing his final operation, to remove the last metal plate in his spine, just last week.
Sledging fun turned to terror
Recalling the accident, Filip told The P&J he had and friend were “excited” about heading out on their sledges to Culter Golf Course for the first time on their own.
“Me and my best friend were going to sledge at the golf course,” he said.
“We had been there many times but we saw a place we had never been to before so we decided to go from the very top of the hill and just close our eyes and rush to the bottom.
“I just remember this big drop, like I was suspended in the air, before I crashed down into a ditch.
“The last thing I remember is feeling fear and I remember my friend pulling me up on to the sledge, but he couldn’t manage to pull me all the way up.
“He had to run back up to the golf clubhouse to get some help.”
‘He was broken in half’
Filip’s dad Petar rushed from the family home in Milltimber to the golf club and found his son lying on the ground, unable to move.
The injured teenager was taken by ambulance to the RACH, where he underwent an urgent operation led by consultant neurosurgeon James Walkden, to realign his spine and fix the bones in place.
Mr Cegar said: “I had spent many hours watching Filip and his friends sledge but that day the boys went on their own for the first time.
“When I got there, he was lying there on the snow. People were around him covering him with jackets.
“We didn’t know what was happening but we could see he couldn’t move his legs or arms and he was screaming in pain. The first estimates were not good.”
He added: “Filip was literally broken in half because he broke his back and sternum.
Praise for surgeons and Archie
“Before the operation, Mr Walkden said he didn’t want to raise any hopes, but luckily he didn’t break his spinal cord.
“I can’t tell you the feeling – I had to sit down. Immediately after the surgery Filip started to have some control and some movement, not even 24 hours on.
“I can’t praise the professionalism of all the staff enough. The Archie Foundation gave us a room and we were shown so much patience and goodwill. We could not have asked for more.”
Filip’s venture up the Eiffel Tower will raise money for The Archie Foundation.
The money raised will be used to buy a recliner chair for the hospital’s high dependency unit, which will allow other families to sit by their child’s bedside in comfort.
Any additional money will help to fund a room in The Archie Foundation’s Family Centre, where families can stay at RACH at no cost while their child is a patient.
From strength to strength
During his time at the Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries Unit in Glasgow, Filip learnt to walk again and was climbing the stairs within two weeks.
He and his dad have continued to build up his strength by going to the gym at Kippie Lodge in Milltimber.
He started going to the gym in January, and at this time was unable to do even basic exercises, walk properly or lie down, as he lost 15% of his body weight after the accident.
He said: “When I came out of hospital I was really weak, I was really skinny, I lost so much weight and I couldn’t really do anything. But we started going to the gym, me and my dad.
“At first I couldn’t run, I couldn’t hang on to anything, I couldn’t even lie down. At the time we started slowly, slowly pushing on and over a period of six months, I think I managed to get pretty much on par with my original self before the injury.”
Gym became Filip’s ‘safe place’
Filip is now back playing football and is thankful for the support of the Kippie Lodge team.
Mr Cegar said the gym made a “massive difference” to his son’s rehabilitation, adding: “When we started, his spirits started to come up. It was a big part of everything and this then became his safe place. It was a place where we regularly went.”
Filip is looking forward to his trip to Paris, which he described as a “dream”.
He has already raised more than £1,000 for Archie through a JustGiving page set up by his mum Irena, and believes every penny raised will help him reach the top of the Eiffel Tower.