Barry Brookes, 22, paralysed in crash will marry fiancée Evie in hospital as 'life's too short'

Barry Brookes, 22, was involved in a crash which "launched him onto a van" while picking up his fiancée, Evie, 19, from work in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, on November 8.

He was rushed to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, where he was told he was paralysed from the chest down and would be unlikely to walk again.

Doctors have told Barry he'll be under 24-hour medical care for "at least" another year - prompting him to bring his wedding forward by two years.

He'll marry his fiancée on December 20 in a day room at the hospital - surrounded by 20 close friends and family members.

Barry, a former warehouse worker, from Sandy, Bedfordshire, said: "We still hadn't started our wedding planning when the accident happened - but afterwards, we both realised life's too short. I'm going to be getting married on December 20.

“It'll be in the day room, with the local reverend, and we're only allowed to invite 20 people. But we'll still be in a full bridal gown and suit - we want to do as much as we can."

On November 8, 2024, Barry was biking towards Biggleswade, to pick Evie, a teacher, up from work.

He was hit by a car, which flipped and Barry was "launched" onto the bonnet of a van.

Evie rushed to the scene and thought he had died "there and then".

"I don't remember much," he said. "I just know what other people have told me - and I think they’re trying to protect me by not telling me everything. My fiancée was so scared of losing me - when she turned up, she thought I was dead at the scene. The ambulance airlifted me to Addenbrooke's - and I had an operation."

Barry was rushed into a four-hour surgery on his spine immediately after landing in Cambridge.

Doctors said he had a T6 spinal injury - leaving him unable to move from the chest down.

He also broke a number of bones - including four ribs, cartilage in his left ear, and both wrists - which have healed without surgery. His spinal cord injury means he won't be able to walk or pass waste anymore.

"They gave me a massive head brace during surgery," Barry said. "That was huge - doctors told me if I'd moved my head even an inch, I could've been completely paralysed.

"I'm going to be in a wheelchair, most likely, for the rest of my life - but I won't let it get me down. I can breathe by myself, I can use my arms, I can hold my head up and sit up in bed. One day, I'll be able to live independently too, in a wheelchair."

During the first 48 hours of his injury, Barry had no recollection of who or where he was - but all he could do was ask for Evie. Within the first week, he began to start gaining his long-term memories back.

"I've been in hospital for four weeks - for the first 48 hours, I had no memory at all," he said. “It was really upsetting - I had no idea I was in Cambridge. I didn't even know what day it was. My short-term memory is still a bit hit or miss, but at least I know who I am, and where I am."

After the accident, Barry and his fiancée decided to bring their wedding forward. The pair got engaged in October 21, 2023 and hadn't previously set a date for tying the knot.

But Barry's fiancée was "jolted into action" after believing he'd died at the scene of the accident, after following a gut feeling. Together, and after speaking to the hospital chaplain and a local reverend, they decided to bring the date forward to the following month.

Barry said: “We've got the local reverend doing the service, and the hospital chaplain for the legal part. We did originally want to have a big wedding - unfortunately now, we've got a small one. But, we’ll have a huge party, once I’m out of hospital."

Barry will be transferred at a later date to Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, to finish his physiotherapy and learn to live independently. His care team have estimated he'll be out of hospital by December 2025. After he's discharged, he plans to move in with his future wife - as they both lived with parents up until the accident.

"We'll definitely be wanting to find a place of our own," Barry said. "I won’t be able to afford it, but my fiancée will be applying for emergency accommodation. My doctors have thrown around that I'll be discharged before next Christmas. But they say the recovery process could take three years."

Barry's GoFundMe, for help with bills and adaptive equipment, can be found here.