Reed suffers stroke

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Triple Olympic rowing champion Pete Reed has been left paralyzed from his chest down following a spinal stroke, he announced.

The 38-year-old — a lieutenant commander in the Royal Navy — won the coxless four Olympic gold in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012 before adding a third when the eight triumphed in Rio de Janeiro three years ago.

Reed had tweeted earlier this month he had suffered a spinal stroke which he added is “very rare” and he took to Instagram to reveal the fall-out from it.

“There is a very small chance I will make no recovery and a very small chance I will make a full recovery,” he said in his post.

A spinal stroke is a disruption in the blood supply to the spinal cord and five-time world champion Reed says doctors do not know the cause.