MOMENTS after the motorbike crash, superfit Lindsay Chapman just knew what had happened - her spine was severed.

Lying on Alderney Roundabout on the Wessex Way last August, Lindsay instantly realised she might never walk again.

She talks with such brightness and confidence you can hardly believe she has been through such trauma.

The 31-year-old from Bournemouth was in the TA, enjoyed horse riding and swimming and loved the exhilarating freedom of her Suzuki 600cc sports bike.

A doctor confirmed the news in Poole Hospital - and the shock was so great she shook so hard she could not speak.

Her bike was only going 20mph, but it spun so hard it snapped her spine and left a two-inch gap that paralysed her from the chest down.

Mum Mandy Bascombe, 51, from Kinson, a nightcare assistant, said the doctor asked her if Lindsay was sporty before he confirmed the news.

"I said yes, and he put his head in his hands and said That makes my job 10 times harder'," said Mandy.

But Lindsay, a former Kemp Welch pupil who lives in Westbourne, is hoping to get back to her sporty ways.

Her family are organising a charity dog walk to raise around £3,000 for help including a hand cycle, as used by paralympic star Tanni Grey-Thompson.

Losing her mobility was a "massive blow" but she is determined to get back into action so she can enjoy the adrenaline of exercise.

And her ambitions include climbing Mt Snowdown. "I love the challenge. It makes me feel alive," said Lindsay.

After the accident, she spent 10 days in Poole Hospital, then four and half months in the Odstock Spinal Unit of Salisbury Hospital, which she cannot praise enough, coming to terms with her injury.

"You are like a baby," she said. "You are completely dependent on other people. You lose your dignity. You have to let it go."

Her body changed - muscles wasted, her centre of balance shifted, her blood pressure went, leaving her dizzy, and she lost nearly two stone from her 5ft 8ins and 10 stone four pound frame.

Before the crash she did hill training in Lulworth, trekking miles with a backpack as she trained to join up a TA special forces unit.

But she said: "The biggest challenge of my life was just being able to sit up in hospital."

And getting out of hospital brought a new challenge - facing up to the reality of the injury.

"I would be in the car driving past places I knew, thinking, Am I dreaming, is this real?' It feels like you are on another planet."

But you only need to meet her for a few seconds to see she is happy, grounded person with an admirable outlook on life.

She still dives and swims and wants to go horse riding and she can drive and hopes in the future to have children.

Getting dressed takes twice as long and "involves a lot of wriggling round on the bed!"

She said: "My friends and family have pretty much drawn strength from me rather than the other way round. Because they can I see I am okay, they are okay."

She was a financial analyst for Barclays House in Poole, though she does not think she will ever have the energy for a full-time job again.

She wants to do voluntary work and charity work for groups whose members helped her like the Spinal Injuries Association and Bacup.

"I want to be back in the community again. I feel it's going to be a couple of years before I'm in the place I want to be."

You can bet if anyone can get there, she will.

  • The charity dog walk is around 3-4 miles and is at 2pm on Sunday March 16, at Hengitsbury Head, Bournemouth. Turn up on the day or phone mum Mandy for details on 07877 596686.