Man paralysed during medical school now A&E doctor in wheelchair

Credit: SWNS / Xander Van der Poll

A man paralysed during medical school is now a qualified doctor providing healthcare from his wheelchair - working in A&E.

Xander Van der Poll, 25, completed his training at Bristol Medical School in May 2024.

During his first year, Xander broke his back after falling from a tree and was immediately paralysed from the waist down.

Despite the blow to both his physical and mental health, Xander has completed his studies and now works as a junior doctor at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.

Xander, who was born in South Africa but raised in Stratford-Upon Avon, West Midlands, from the age of two, is working in A&E at a Birmingham hospital.