A 23-year-old man who modelled for Italian Vogue, GQ and London Fashion Week before a horrific car crash put an end to his career is raising money for the hospital that saved his life.
Tyrell Todd was left unable to walk, talk, eat or drink following a near-fatal car crash in January 2015.
Mr Todd was in the passenger seat of a friend’s car in Potter’s Bar when it spun off the road and struck a tree.
He suffered a major bleed inside his brain and had part of his skull removed in a life-saving operation at St Mary's Hospital , Westminster, where he spent the next four weeks in a coma and three more months in another hospital before he could begin rehabilitative treatment.
All for a good cause
On Saturday (September 23), less than three years after the accident, Mr Todd was due to compete in an endurance challenge to raise money for the medics who saved his life.
He said: "My speech is still slurred and my concentration levels are not good, but I am trying to move past those difficulties and do something for my kids and the hospital staff who saved my life.
"I feel like I am ready to go ahead and do it. It will be nothing compared to what I went through before."
Mr Tyrell is taking on the Tough Mudder challenge, a 12-mile obstacle course through overgrown woodland and thick, muddy bogs in in Faygate, West Sussex.
He has so far raised £2,294 for Imperial Health Charity and smashed his original target of £1,500.
The money Mr Todd raises will go towards the Major Trauma Centre at St Mary's Hospital.
He added: "The odds of me surviving the crash were slim to none and my family was losing hope.
"However, the surgery was a success and after spending four weeks in a coma I came through."
Mr Todd said: "Ever since then I have wanted to find a way to say how much I appreciate the amazing team of doctors and nurses and all the staff at the Major Trauma Centre who were so dedicated to looking after me.
"I want to show the staff at St Mary’s how far I have come over the last two-and-a-half years and to prove to them that their efforts have not gone unnoticed.
"They basically brought me back to life and I want them to see what their work has achieved."
"Hopefully, this money can also enable them to provide the same level of care to other people who end up in the same terrible situation as me," Mr Todd added.
"A few friends and members of my family are planning to do the challenge with me, even if they have to drag me round the course.
"It will be physically challenging but I am determined."
You can donate to Mr Todd's fundraising page at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tyrell-todd .
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