The moment when John Mitchell’s life changed for ever is permanently etched on his mind.
The Forfar Athletic footballer was being driven home from a midweek training session when he became the victim of a horror car crash.
“It was eight minutes past nine on February the ninth 1982,” John recalled.
“That’s been embedded in my head since that night.”
He knows the time for certain because as he lay in the wreckage he noticed that the car clock had stopped at exactly that point.
John and coach Alex Carswell were travelling on the old single carriageway Dundee to Forfar road on a pitch black night.
Suddenly ahead of them a lorry trailer lay directly in their path.
It had been edged out of the Muiryfaulds Garage that was situated at the roadside.
Alex Carswell had no time to stop.
John Mitchell’s injuries were catastrophic
“We couldn’t see it because it was that dark and because the lights from the garage were shining in our eyes,” said John.
“I shouted to Alex: ‘There’s something in front of us. Watch out, watch out!
“Alex tried to turn the car and then I just felt a thud and I was lying down, bent over, and couldn’t move.
“At this time I didn’t have a clue that I’d broken my neck.”
The impact of the collision had snapped his spinal chord.
In an instant he was transformed from a footballer who had never been fitter to someone who was paralysed from the chest downwards and faced being wheelchair bound for the rest of his life.
He was months away from qualifying as a technical teacher.
And in a few days’ time he was due to feature for Forfar in a glamour Scottish Cup tie against Hearts in Edinburgh.
All this and a career at senior level, which had begun a few years earlier at Arbroath, had been taken from him.
Instead, he was taken by ambulance to Dundee Royal Infirmary before being transferred under police escort to the spinal unit in Musselburgh two days later.
“They put me in a special bed called a Stryker Frame bed and attached a 12 pound weight to my head to stretch out the vertebrae on my neck to stop blood or spinal fluid moving around,” he said.
“I had to be turned every two hours.”
Forfar Athletic player thought he would make full recovery
On the Saturday after the accident John’s Forfar team mates became giant killers by beating Hearts 1-0.
Unknown to John, they travelled immediately after the match to visit him in hospital.
John had not long been turned on the specialist bed to face the floor when staff said, to his surprise, that they would be turning him again.
“When they turned me back to face the ceiling all the guys from Forfar were standing around my bed.
“I had never been so glad to see them.”
At that point John thought he would make a recovery.
“I was quite naïve about it,” he said.
“I thought a broken neck would just be like a broken leg and maybe in a year’s time I would be back playing football.
“How wrong I was.”
Some three weeks later came devastating news.
“The consultant told me I would never walk again.
“He then said I might never move again and because of the way I was in the car crash I was lucky to be here.
“My daughter Danielle was there at the time.
“She was only 12 weeks old and was lying below me on the floor where I could see her.
“When he said that to me I just burst out crying for about 10 minutes.
“And then I just said to myself I just need to get on with my life and that was it.
“I thought ‘let’s make it as good as possible’.
“I’ve got the wee one here and my life has to go on for her sake, for my own sake and my family’s sake.”
That was exactly what came to pass.
He lived life to the full despite the odds
In Dundee and Broughty Ferry he has become a champion for disabled people and a mentor for those he believes are “less fortunate than myself”.
He has given motivational talks and advised specialists in the caring sector both north and south of the border.
He has worked with organisations such as the Dundee Access Group and Dundee Carers with the aim of making the city a better place for the disabled.
In 2007 he was named as Dundee’s Citizen of the Year.
Despite the obstacles in his way he has travelled to the USA and Australia.
He has been a long-standing season ticket holder at Dundee United and a regular visitor to the home of his second love, Manchester City.
Ian Boardley has been a close friend of John’s since they were both on the books of Arbroath FC in the 1970s.
On that fateful night in February 1982, Ian was one of the Forfar players who arrived at the scene of the crash just a few minutes later.
“The club was like a morgue,” he said.
“But right from the get go John was pretty pragmatic about it all.
“His personality has never really changed.
“He’s a very positive person as well as being friendly and likeable.
“Despite what happened to him he would always look to help other people.
“He’s never looked for sympathy or pity.”
Special visit from Scotland manager Jock Stein
John spent nine months in the spinal unit and was amazed at the outpouring of love, sympathy and support his predicament engendered.
“I got letters from all over the world wishing me all the best,” he said.
“The time I was in the unit made me the person I am today.”
He was visited in hospital by the then-Scotland manager Jock Stein who was preparing for the 1982 World Cup in Spain.
Stein brought with him a Scotland jersey that belonged to Manchester City’s Asa Hartford, which for John, as a City fan, was perfect.
Another memorable moment came in 1987 when John was a spectator at the testimonial match for Dundee FC stalwart George McGeachie.
The opposition were Liverpool whose star studded line up included legendary goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar.
John had played in South Africa for a brief spell in 1977 and made his debut for Durban City on the same day as the Zimbabwean.
They became great friends.
“Before the match started he saw me sitting underneath the old half time scoreboard where they put the disabled people,” said John.
“He came running across and gave me a big hug and we met after the match for a beer or two.”
Celebrating a milestone birthday in Dundee
Some medics believed that John’s life expectancy might be no more than 15 years after the crash.
But on Saturday, John celebrated his 70th birthday at a surprise party in Broughty Ferry surrounded by former team-mates, loved ones and friends.
“Life has never really stopped me doing anything,” he said.
“The 42 years since the accident have passed really quickly.
“I have never regretted one minute since the accident.
“I have had a good life and met loads and loads of wonderful people.”
It would be hard to deny that if there is a personification of indomitable spirit and if triumph over adversity has an epitome, it would be John Mitchell.
For sure, he is an inspirational figure.
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