Stranger's silly boat prank on my first ever holiday destroyed my future and left me paralysed in a wheelchair

But that changed in a matter of minutes when a silly prank on his first ever holiday abroad with friends destroyed his life.

On the last day of his trip, Reece and a friend booked to go on a boat party, while the rest of the group were off driving quad bikes.

When the boat party returned to shore, the pair were waiting on the jetty with a group of girls they had met.

It was then, in a moment of stupidity, that Reece's life was turned upside down.

One of the girls asked if he could swim, and when he said "yes", she pushed him off the pier into the swallow waters.

The water was only knee-deep and Reece cracked the back of his neck on the sea bed.

"I remember hitting the bottom and trying to swim, then trying to stand up, but my body wouldn't respond," the 24-year-old told the Daily Mail.

"All I remember is one of the holiday reps crying over my head, then nothing until I woke up in hospital in a neck brace."

His family, mum Rachel, sister Brooke and brother Jake, flew to his hospital bedside on the Greek island.

Reece, from East London, had also developed pneumonia from swallowing so much sea water, meaning an op to stabilise his neck had to be postponed.

Today, Reece can't move below the chest, although he has sensation and movement in his arms and some in his legs and feet.

The worst thing for him is that he won't be able to play football again.

"It was the biggest thing in my life," said Reece, who used to play five times a week and also coached inner-city children.

"The thing that hurt most is I didn’t put myself in danger. I wasn’t drunk or stupid."

After he was flown back to the UK, Reece then spent 13 weeks at The Royal London Hospital and three months in The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, where he claims a doctor bluntly told him that he'd never be able to have kids or walk again.

"I was completely devasted. I cried and cried and told mum I didn't want to live."

But he's not giving up hope yet.

"I miss everything I used to do, but my life is just beginning.

"I’m too young to give up and I don’t want people to give up on me."

Reece now needs intensive physiotherapy – although he's only entitled to one session a week on the NHS.

His carer mentioned a therapy called Lokomat, a form of robotic training where a machine puts patients through the motions of walking while they are held by a hoist and a robotic skeleton is attached to their legs.

The idea is that by constantly stimulating the parts of the brain responsible for the motor movements, it forms new neurological pathways to stimulate the muscles to move spontaneously.

A 2014 study found that paraplegic patients who used Lokomat five times a week for 90 days showed "highly significant improvements" in walking.

There are 1,000 Lokomats in Europe and America, but only five in the UK. But it's expensive to buy and maintain, and two of the machines are only at private hospitals.

Reece flew to Poland for his first session back in May after which he claimed to have felt his mum tickling his toes.

In June, Reece's mates organised a football tournament at which his mum sold refreshments.

They made £2,000, which, along with a donation from his mum's boss, bought Reece another two weeks’ treatment.

The treatment has helped to unfurl his hands which had begun to curl inwards. He can now pick up a bottle and feedhimselff.

He wants to get to a stage where his hands move enough to be able to play wiht his brother on the PLaystation, go to work and "live a more normal life".

His family are now trying to raise enough money to ensure that he can go back to Poland to receive further treatment.

If you want to donate, you can do so here.

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