Former Bath Rugby duo set up not-for-profit organisation following major spinal injury

Former Bath Rugby player Ed Jackson has set up a new non-for-profit organisation following a severe spinal injury which left him paralysed from the neck down and unlikely to ever walk again.

He sustained the injury in 2017 whilst diving into a friend’s swimming pool, an accident in which he hit his head so hard that he fractured his C6 and C7 vertebrae and shattered a disc in the process. Jackson survived despite having to be resuscitated on three occasions and remarkably, a year on, defied medical prognosis and climbed to the summit of Snowdon in a display of immense will and determination.

Since this achievement, Jackson has got together with former Bath and England International Olly Barkley, to launch M2M - a not-for-profit organisation that is committed to raising £250,000 for a spinal injury rehabilitation centre in Chitwan, Nepal - a country that is close to Jackson’s heart after he visited with orthopaedic charity, The Neverest Foundation, last year.

M2M stands for the millimetres of movement Jackson fought for immediately after the accident (incidentally 6 days after surgery he had his first voluntary movement in his big toe) to the mountains he now climbs.

Having witnessed first hand the bleak conditions that paraplegics and quadriplegics face in one of the world’s poorest countries, Jackson vowed to make a difference and, through M2M, he’s now encouraging others to join him on imposing climbs in the mountains to reach his fundraising target to build the 80-bed Chitwan hospital in its entirety.

The first of these will see Jackson climb Italy’s highest independent peak, Gran Paradiso, on 15th June, and later in the year, he’ll head to the Himalayas for an epic 18 day adventure to scale all 6500m of Mera Peak. Places on both these once-in-a-lifetime trips are on sale now and M2M will help to support all participants’ individual fundraising efforts. M2M are also offering corporate sponsorship packages for these climbs, as well as the exceptional opportunity to be given naming rights for the rehabilitation centre.

Closer to home, Jackson and Barkley will also be launching the first iteration of their pop restaurant/club concept Lit. in the centre of Bath. It will comprise a high end immersive and interactive dining experience served to a live deep house soundtrack under the darkness of candlelight. All proceeds from this unique event will go towards the fundraising target and tickets will be on sale via the website www.them2mgroup.com.