Callum Russell has been competing for Great Britain in handcycling since 2023
"I remember everything about that day. I knew straight away that I'd broken my back."
In 2018, Callum Russell had just started making a living out of mountain bike racing. He had a new sponsor and was excited to race at Gisburn Forest. He knew every twist and turn of the course.
But on a practice run he misjudged a jump and, as he crashed to the ground, he knew it was serious. He couldn't feel his legs and, as he was airlifted to hospital, he was certain his life had changed forever – but he also knew, even in that moment, that he would adapt.
"I genuinely didn't have that moment of trauma. There was the realisation that it's going to be hard, I'm going to have to relearn things, but that's what we're moving on to," Russell, 30, tells BBC Sport.
"I never at any point had a moment of a breakdown or anything like that."
When he came round from surgery Russell learned he had severed his spine at T11, in the middle of his back, and he was paralysed from the waist down.
"The realisation dawns that you're going to have limited bladder control, bowel function, and you're going to have to learn to use a wheelchair full-time," he said.
But within weeks, with the support of family and friends, he was back outside.
"It was the first thing I wanted, to get outdoors. I want to feel physically fit, so how am I going to do that?"
The answer, initially, wasn't cycling. His first attempt on a handbike wasn't enjoyable because it felt so different from his beloved mountain biking.
"I wasn't in the mindset to do that. I just thought 'I'm going to close the door on that, and I don't ever need to do it again'," he said.
Rowing, though, as a sport he had never tried before, gave him a new sense of freedom. He quickly progressed to Great Britain's Para-rowing squad, winning a bronze on his international debut at a World Cup in 2022.
Russell has won medals in two sports representing Great Britain
But it was during a training camp that he saw one of his team-mates, Paralympic and world champion Ben Pritchard, using a handcycle to ride around the lake after they had finished training. His interest in cycling was rekindled.
