Teen 'broken in half' in accident returns to slopes after learning to walk again

21 February 2024 , 11:31

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Filip Cegar back on the slopes after a horrifying incident (Image: PA)

A brave Scottish teen who was "broken in half" in a sledging accident and had to learn to walk again has returned to the slopes snowboarding.

Filip Cegar, 14, had the horror incident in December 2022, when he broke both his back and breastbone. He has now made a complete miraculous recovery, showing no fear of returning to the slopes, having recently returned from a snowboarding holiday in Slovenia. Filip said: “It was just amazing to be snowboarding again. I’m incredibly grateful to be able to do the things I love again."

The Cults Academy pupil was sledging with a friend when the accident happened in Bieldside, Aberdeen, on December 8. Filip’s dad Petar rushed from the family home in Milltimber to the golf club, to find his son lying on the ground and unable to move. The seriously injured teen was rushed by ambulance to the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital where he underwent an urgent operation led by consultant neurosurgeon James Walkden, to realign his spine and fix the bones in place.

Filip Cegar had to learn to walk again (Daily Record)

Filip Cegar with his mother Irena in front of the Eiffel Tower (PA)

Filip told the Daily Record: "The last thing I remember is feeling fear and I remember my friend pulling me up onto the sledge, but he couldn’t manage to pull me all the way up. He had to run back up to the golf clubhouse to get some help."

The lead surgeon, Dr Walkden, said: “We felt that Filip’s best chance of recovery would be to stabilise his spine and decompress the cord here in the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital. I regularly perform this type of surgery in adult patients, but this was the first time we have done the procedure on a child in Aberdeen. The surgery went very well and the whole neurosurgery department in Aberdeen is so delighted for Filip, his recovery has been exceptional."

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Fillip impressed everyone before, when during recovery he climbed all 674 steps of the Eiffel Tower in Paris and raised more than £5,500 for the Archie Foundation. The funds have now been used to buy two recliner chairs for the hospital’s High Dependency Unit (HDU), which will allow other families to sit by their child’s bedside in comfort. Fillip said: "It was also really special to be able to raise money for The Archie Foundation and give something back to those who helped me and my family."

Jon Hebditch