• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Man spent four months ‘between life and death’ and left paralysed for life after life-changing ‘mistake’

Home> News> Health

Updated 07:45 12 May 2025 GMT+1Published 07:29 12 May 2025 GMT+1

Man spent four months ‘between life and death’ and left paralysed for life after life-changing ‘mistake’

Greg Sumner decided to have a big 'knees up', but the consequences were devastating

Joe Harker

Joe Harker

A man became paralysed for life after being involved in a horrific collision which cost two other men their lives and left him in a coma for four months.

Greg Sumner had decided to go out for a 'knees up' on 7 October, 2012, as he had a court date looming after getting into a fight while drunk.

On the way back home he and his mate Vincent Atkinson were 'bladdered' and doing over 90mph in a 40 zone, with Greg in the passenger seat and his friend driving the car.

Advert

They had a head-on collision with another driver, Richard Park, Greg told The Sun, and of the three men involved in the crash, only Greg survived.

The other two men were killed almost instantly at the site of the crash.

Greg Sumner was involved in a head-on collision in 2012 which changed his life (Channel 4)
Greg Sumner was involved in a head-on collision in 2012 which changed his life (Channel 4)

His neck and back were broken, and he suffered severe head injuries to the point that when the hospital called in his brother to identify him it had to be done with a tattoo on his arm.

For the next four months Greg was in a coma, and he explained that his heart stopped four times while his liver and one of his lungs also failed.

Advert

He said he 'hovered between life and death', and doctors tried twice to bring him out of his coma but his 'body reacted so violently' that they had to sedate him again.

The third time was the charm, but when Greg awoke to see his family gathered around his bed he found that his 'body wouldn't respond'.

Greg's story previously featured in The Secret World of Boy Racers UNTOLD on Channel 4, where he said one of the hardest things about being paralysed was raising his children without being able to hug them.

He was in a coma for four months after his crash (Channel 4)
He was in a coma for four months after his crash (Channel 4)

"Trying to be a father without picking them up for a little cuddle when I want, that will rip me to pieces as long as I breathe," he told the documentary of something that would affect him forever.

Advert

"People don't ever consider the severe impact of it going wrong until it's too late. I was early 20s when it happened.

"Driving quick was regular. It was normal."

He said that while you didn't want to be the person to say 'slow down', Greg said that the consequences of the crash were that two men were dead and four children would grow up without their dads while he was paralysed for life.

Featured Image Credit: Channel 4

Topics: Channel 4, Health

Joe Harker
Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

X

@MrJoeHarker

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

an hour ago
2 hours ago
3 hours ago
  • an hour ago

    Oldham Athletic break silence after striker who got them promoted 'knocks woman out with chair'

    Kian Harratt, a striker for the club, could be seen throwing a chair at a woman in the clip

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    Exact times Brit shoppers can find yellow sticker reductions in every major supermarket

    It's better than hanging around the supermarket all day long until they break out the stickers

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    British child, six, arrested as '14kg of drugs found in case' after landing at airport

    He was part of a group of eight that were arrested upon landing in Mauritius

    News
  • 3 hours ago

    Update on former prison officer filmed having sex with inmate as partner reveals what she’ll do next

    Linda de Sousa Abreu had her jail sentence reduced by 10 months.

    News
  • Top doctor left ‘devastated’ after being diagnosed with incurable cancer he’s spent life treating
  • Man who had world’s first successful face and double hand transplant spoke out about life-changing car crash
  • Naked Attraction host left stunned by shocking show first and says 'I don’t think I’ve seen one like that'
  • Horrifying moment man is left with life-changing injuries after being run over by aeroplane