Trainer Sean White gives an update on his son Tommy

An update on Tommy White's recovery

Tommy White remains an inspiration to all who know him - and many more who don’t.

The son of south London trainer Sean, himself well known for the ‘Broadway’ prefix, suffered life-changing injuries in an accident in September 2024, but last week took charge of a specially-adapted car (pictured) which his dad says has given his brave son the independence he craved ahead of returning to his old job next month.

Reflecting on the last 14 months, and the challenges the family have faced, including changes to their home to match Tommy’s needs, and not least the emotional turmoil involved and Tommy’s own recovery and rehabilitation, Sean White said: “It’s been some year for sure, but we’ve taken it one day at a time.

“At least the work at home is now complete. We’ve removed walls, put down wooden floors, installed low threshold door frames, a chairlift and a wet room.

“And while this has all been tough on Tommy - and still is - he’s been incredible. He’s still having problems with his legs where they cut him. His bones stick into his muscles so when he walks he’s still in terrible pain.

“They are reluctant to operate and cut back further, because they don’t want to disturb the skin graft. So he’s back to the rehab centre every two to four weeks to get the sockets adjusted to distribute the weight of his legs more evenly before they raise his height which is what he’s looking forward to

“He’s also adjusting so well with losing his right arm and getting so good with his left.

“He took delivery of his car last week which has given him more independence - and how he drives is amazing. He’s also got a light weight wheelchair which he can dismantle himself and put in the boot of the car.

“He goes back to work at the end of January. His company is putting him on a electrical engineering drawing course so he’s looking forward to that.

“We might try and do another race night around Easter. The first one went down really well at his local pub.

“We’d also like to do something around the greyhounds as everybody involved has been brilliant and the support amazing, which we’re so grateful for. Maybe a race night at a track. We’re just floating a few ideas around - maybe some sort of Anglo-Irish challenge given we’ve got friends both sides of the Irish Sea, but we’ll have to look into cost, availability and sponsorship.”

Sean White has also had to make changes in terms of his own life to spend more time with Tommy, giving up the day-to-day running of his fishmongers in Tooting Market.

“I’ve given up the shop to spend more time at home with Tommy - and the dogs! Myself and Tommy are mad keen on the dogs so the plan in the new year is to get a few owners in and train their dogs. Initially it might be hard as people only think I’ve only ever trained my own dogs, but we’ll get the message out there!”

His experienced sprinter Broadway Murty, the 2024 Northamptonshire Sprint winner at Towcester, heads up to Nottingham today (Monday) for the heats of the Arc National Sprint.

“A couple of mine have been retired in recent months, so we’ve just got Murty racing at the moment. He probably lacks a length or two where we was but he’s a great dog to have a run and hopefully we can get him a couple of kennelmates to race with next year.”

Read Tommy’s story and donate please via https://www.gofundme.com/f/tommy-whites-recovery-rehabilitation-fund