Uriah Rennie (foto: Screenshot)
Uriah Rennie, the Premier League’s first Black referee, is learning to walk again after being hospitalised with a rare neurological condition affecting his spine.
Uriah Rennie, the first Black referee in Premier League history, has revealed he is learning to walk again after a serious health scare left him hospitalised for six months.
The 65-year-old former official was on holiday in Turkey last year when he began experiencing severe back pain. Initially, he struggled with sleep. But after returning to England, things worsened dramatically—Rennie could barely walk.
“I spent a month lying on my back”
“I spent a month lying on my back, and another four months sitting up in bed,” Rennie told BBC. “They kept me in hospital until February. They found a lump pressing on my spine. It’s a rare neurological condition, not something they could operate on.”
Uriah Rennie was hospitalised for five months after a rare condition left him paralysed from the waist down. Read more: https://t.co/spo3m1D5UW
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Once known as the fittest referee in English football, Rennie is now undergoing intensive physiotherapy to regain mobility.
“I had to learn how to move again. I’m retraining my legs,” he added.
Life changed in an instant
At the time of his health collapse, Rennie had been close to taking up a senior academic role as Chancellor at Sheffield Hallam University. Instead, he now spends his days working through motor exercises, determined to regain as much movement as possible.
“Although I can move my feet and can stand with a frame attached to a wheelchair, I need to work on my glutes,” he explained. “I rock in my chair doing exercises. I’m a very good, obedient patient. I now realise how fragile life can be.”
“You must never lose hope”
Despite the uncertain road ahead, Rennie remains positive.
“I don’t know if I’ll walk again fully, but I know I have to try. You must never lose hope,” he said.