First session after breaking back produces 21lb 7oz carp

Eight months after being told he’d never walk again, Ross Haselwood’s first sessions back on a local canal produced six carp to 21lb 7oz.

Having broken his back while attempting to use a canoe as a sledge, Ross was bed ridden for four months. But the keen towpath carper defied doctors to get back on the Grand Union Canal this month to land a 21lb 7oz common and five mid-doubles.
He said: “It was my first time back out on the cut since my accident. I didn’t expect to get among the carp as I thought I would have been a bit rusty but my luck paid off!”

Reflecting on his rehabilitation, Ross, who has a 31lb 4oz canal PB, said: “The doctors refused to operate as they said it was too risky, so my only option was four months’ flat-bed rest without even a pillow. These were by far the darkest four months of my life – I was told I would never walk again. All I could do was live in my head – I really missed the fishing.”