Emerging from a coma on his 35th birthday, Newcastle’s Jason Kean discovered that his life had changed forever.
While there was enormous relief on being told that his 15-year-old son had emerged unscathed from the horrific accident that had threatened to take both their lives, Kean had to come to terms with the fact that he would never walk again after suffering severe spinal injuries.
Less than four years on, having come through bouts of despair he has, however, found a new sense of purpose after being introduced to the sport of wheelchair curling and taking to it immediately.
Part of the Team England line-up which claimed the last qualifying place, Kean will now play alongside and against colleagues from the British Curling programme when next month’s World Wheelchair Championships take place with Scotland hosting at Auchenharvie Leisure Centre in Stevenston, North Ayrshire.
Now 38, the born-and-bred Geordie exudes positivity and good humour in outlining the extent to which things have turned around for him, resulting in a podium finish at this season’s World Wheelchair B Championships where they won bronze medals and that third and final qualifying spot for the big event.
“I guess in a way my tale is one of rags to riches, I felt my life was over until curling came along and now I am playing for England at a World Championships, it’s an unbelievable story really.
“There are lots of folk rooting for me now back home and think I am now destined for greatness,” he joked.
He admits that there were dark times as he battled to come to terms with the consequences of his accident on a fateful date.
“On September 11th 2021 I had a serious motorbike accident which left me with broken ribs, left leg, right arm, ruptured spleen and my T4 and T5 vertebrae obliterated,” explained Kean.
“My motorbike slipped on gravel and I went head first into a mud bank, but my 15 year old son who was with me walked away without any injuries, which was the best possible outcome in the situation really.
“I was in intensive care for ten days after the accident before they could operate on my back which was my 35th birthday.
“It was a bleak time in hospital and I had gone from being a workaholic running my own construction company to finding myself injured to the point where I felt everything had gone and I had nothing to live for.” 
He is consequently eternally grateful to the men who transformed his horizons by introducing him to the sport he now loves, one of whom, Stewart Pimblett, is now his Team England skip.
“I was introduced to wheelchair curling by Stu and Jeff Ward at Northern Ice in October 2022 and at first they dragged me along to the Dumfries Ice Bowl, which is where I threw my first stone,” Kean recounted.
“Once I started I found I couldn’t stop and that was the start of it all.
“I learned so much from those guys about re-adjusting, learning how to transfer in chairs, regimes you have to learn, it basically opened up a new world for me and because of this sport my life has changed for the better.
“I hope anyone newly injured reading this will be inspired by this.
“Don’t say no to sport as doors won’t open for you.
“I was suicidal and depressed but by getting involved in curling and mixing with my teammates I learned the vital skills and resilience for the rest of my journey and I felt I had something to live for.
“I still can’t quite believe it when I say I am now an England International wheelchair curler.
“Being in this sport made me realise I have everything to live for and there is a different world ahead of me.
“Joining the British Curling Paralympic Performance Programme in November 2024 was another level of prestige for me and many of my England team mates and it has been a learning curve understanding what it takes to be a performance athlete, but I feel that since we won bronze at the World B’s we have learned to gel as a team, we understand more about dynamics, communication and being better team mates.
“In these timescales it just shows how massive things can happen and I am on a different life journey to before.” 
Those bonds are demonstrated in the added motivation Kean believes he and fellow debutant Julian Mattison, along with Pimblett, Karen Aspey and alternate Jean Guild have gained from a disappointing enforced change to their bronze medal winning team.
“We have had a late line-up change because George Potts won’t make these championships, but we will be working hard as a team and doing it for George too,” he said.
“First and foremost we want to make sure we don’t get relegated, so when he is back we are still in the A’s.
“We will play every game like it is our last and go out there and make him and our coaches Tony and Rosemary (Lenton) proud.
“They have given so much to wheelchair curling in England and we cannot thank them enough.
“We are going to play happy, we might be sad after some games and tired at times but we will do it as a team and remember how far we have come in such a short space of time.”
England Head Coach Tony Lenton said, “Rosemary and I acknowledge the significant effort that Jason and his colleagues have put in over the last 18-24 months.
“We are no easy task masters and for those competing in curling at this level requires absolute commitment, it’s a full-time job with plenty of unpaid overtime.
“Like many others, we are extremely pleased to have helped Jason with his transition to a new career in wheelchair curling, his story is inspirational and he is our very own ‘Mr Motivator’.”
Lenton also acknowledged the support from key partners.
“We have been incredibly fortunate to have a squad of dedicated athletes to work with to achieve promotion to this World Championships and this was only made possible thanks to the significant support from Sport England and British Curling along with their encouragement and belief throughout this season.
“If the team play like they can, they will make England and our partners very proud.”
The World Championships get underway with the four player team event from March 1-8, which will be followed by the Mixed Doubles from March 11-16.
England Team
Stewart Pimblett skip
Karen Aspey
Julian Mattison
Jason Kean
Jean Guild (alternate)
England Mixed Doubles Team
Stewart Pimblett skip
Karen Aspey
Coaches:
Head Coach: Tony Lenton
Coach: Rosemary Lenton
Coach: Luke Carson
