From fighting for his life to fighting for a place at the European Championships: Salisbury dad discovers para-powerlifting after life-changing accident

Jake Smith, 31, was involved in a head-on collision at around 50mph, suffering multiple life-threatening injuries including a severed femoral artery, multiple open fractures, a punctured lung, a brain bleed and fractures to his pelvis andspine.

Doctors at Southmead Hospital in Bristol were forced to perform a hemipelvectomy – an extremely rare form of amputation involving the removal of part of the pelvis and leg.

Jake survived, but his life changed forever.

After spending two and a half weeks in a coma and weeks more in hospital, Jake faced the reality of losing his independence. Once a fit and active personal trainer, he was suddenly unable to carry out even the simplest tasks without help.

“I had gone from being completely independent to having to be moved up the bed, turned over and fed,” says Jake. “I have never liked asking for help, but this was a whole other level. I felt like a baby.”

His determination to regain some independence became a driving force throughout his rehabilitation. He pushed himself during physiotherapy and eventually got his first wheelchair, giving him the freedom to move around the hospital and carryout tasks for himself.

But returning home brought a new set of challenges. 

“I presumed leaving hospital meant I was getting better. But in reality, it meant I lost my independence all over again,” says Jake. “In hospital, everything was accessible. At home, every little task I’d previously taken for granted wasa struggle.”

It was during this period that Jake was introduced to Day One Trauma Support, where he accessed its Peer Support service and was paired with fellow amputee Sam.

“Sam was further down the line of recovery than I was, so he gave me real, tangible hope. He could answer questions that no one else really understood. He normalised and validated how I was feeling.”

Jake had always been passionate about fitness and was determined to return to the gym. But being back in a familiar environment was difficult.

 “I was embarrassed by my wheelchair. I’d go early in the morning so I could avoid people I knew. I’d gone from being a tall, strong 6ft 1 guy to someone literally on a lower level. I felt like I’d been robbed of my identity.”

 Then one of his physiotherapists suggested something Jake had never considered: para-powerlifting.

 They helped put him in touch with a Team GB coach and, in September 2025, Jake found a specialist gym. Just three months later, he entered his first competition.

 He has now competed four times and qualified for the Nationals in Leeds this December where he hopes to qualify for the European Championships.

 “Powerlifting has given me a purpose again,” says Jake. “It’s given me a focus. And had it not been for my accident, I would never have discovered it.

 “Whilst I would never have wished to go through what I have, life goes on regardless. It might look completely different to the life you had planned, but it can’t stop you living it the best way you can.”

 For Jake, the sport has become about more than competition. It has helped him build a new identity after an injury that changed every aspect of his life.

 He is also now excited to offer the same hope and reassurance he received through Day One’s Peer Support service to someone else facing life after major trauma.

 Jake is also exploring whether advances in specialist prosthetics could eventually give him the opportunity to walk again.

 Life continues to bring challenges, including ongoing phantom pain, but Jake says the biggest thing is being able to be a parent again to his young daughter.

 “For a long time, I couldn’t do the things a parent does and that was incredibly frustrating,” he says. “But for her, this is normal. She knows Daddy just wears one shoe. She tries to push me in the wheelchair. She’s ok and so am I.”