News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A dad suffered two strokes and nearly died after a charity white-collar boxing bout.

Adam Smith, 34, was a complete novice who had just eight weeks training before taking to the ring.

After he was beaten on points, he found out his opponent had much more experience than him.

Nineteen days after the match in Southampton, Adam collapsed at home with a stroke, and had another in hospital the next day.

He said: “The night before [the stroke], I had a severe headache.”

His wife Katie, 32, rang 999. Doctors found a ruptured artery in his neck and he had an emergency op.

(Image: Collect Unknown via paul byrne)

He was temporarily paralysed and lost his vision on his right side.

Katie said: “Because it had come from a tear in the artery, they said it has got to be the boxing match.”

Adam, of Eastleigh, Hants, regained his vision and the use of his limbs but still suffers weakness.

He said: “After the fight, the bloke [said] he had been doing mixed martial arts [and] sparring for seven or eight years. If I had known, I would not have fought.

"It could have gone a lot worse than it did and I would not have seen my children growing up.”

“I did it all for a good cause, Cancer Research. I thought it would be just six minutes in the ring and it would be over and done with.

“My wife kept saying to me, ‘don’t do it, it is not worth it’.

“I thought nothing bad would happen. I thought I would get a black eye or something."

The clash in Southampton consisted of three two-minute rounds.

“Straight after the fight I had a headache and I think they did give me some paracetamol,” he said.

Nineteen days later he collapsed at home from the first stroke and the next day in hospital he suffered a second.

Adam said: “A couple of weeks after I was struggling with headaches. I was told by my wife the night before I had it (the stroke) I had a severe headache.

"I woke up the following morning I had the first stroke and my wife dialled 999."

Surgeons identified a ruptured artery in his neck as the cause of the episodes.

He had emergency surgery in Southampton General Hospital which saved his life.

But Adam, from Winchester, Hants, was paralysed down his right side and lost the sight in his eye.

Slowly his vision returned, as did the feeling in his limbs, and the welder he has been able to return to work, if only for a couple of hours a day.

“I’m getting there slowly but everything is just a struggle,” he said.

Ultra White Collar Boxing, which organised the fight last August, said: “We have an impeccable safety record, taking all possible precautions to safeguard participants.”