A FORMER Kingston police cadet has spoken of the horse riding accident which left him paralysed and ruined his dream of being a PC.

Joe Gadd, 24, was paralysed from the chest down after a horse fell on top of him while he was working at an American summer camp in May 2011.

Doctors told him soon after he would never be able to walk again.

As part of Mr Gadd’s pledge to stay “outdoorsy”, Kingston Cadets attached Mr Gadd’s wheelchair to their backs with ropes and carried him up Pen y Fan mountain in South Wales on Saturday.

Mr Gadd said: “My plan was to come back and then apply for a job in the police. I’m very outdoorsy. I don’t like being stuck behind a desk.

“But I knew something was up as soon as I fell. I knew something was wrong. I just couldn’t get up.

“My parents were told when I was in the first operation that I would never walk again. The worst thing you can do is give someone false hope in that situation.”

When his fellow Kingston Cadets heard the news of the fall they soon began fundraising and raised £14,000 so that his family could afford to stay in America while Mr Gadd recovered.

He was in an American hospital for 10 months following the fall, having broken his neck and severed his spine.

Last week the cadets, a voluntary Metropolitan Police group for 14 to 18-year-olds, helped Mr Gadd up the Welsh mountain so he could experience the four-hour trek.

Mr Gadd, of Hook Road, said: “I thought it would be quite a unique thing to do and it all kind of snowballed from there.

“It was a bit of a gruelling day because we hadn’t practised at all.

“It was nice when we reached the top and it was very bumpy. It was an amazing day. You could see for miles.

“Hurling a wheelchair up a mountain isn’t something you see every day or do every day. Everyone was cheering us on.”

Money raised from the climb will also go towards funding a new minibus for the cadets.

Kingston cadet Becci Davis said: “We were honoured to be able to help Joe up the mountain. It was something we all wanted to do for him. He has been so good to us.

“It seemed an impossible task but we did it and even managed an ice cream when we got to the bottom.”