In 2005, Matt Hampson’s life changed in an instant when a rugby injury left him paralysed from the neck down and breathing through a ventilator. Once a promising Leicester Tigers player with ambitions of playing for England, he was forced to confront a future that looked very different from the one he had imagined.
Twenty years on, Matt has built a life around helping others facing life-changing injuries through the Matt Hampson Foundation. But his journey has also taken him far beyond the rugby career he once thought would define him – from speaking at Westminster Abbey to taking on the London Marathon in 2026. At the heart of it all is a simple philosophy: Get Busy Living.
For a while, however, there was a lot of looking backwards. “There was a lot of emphasis on that initially after my accident, a lot of soul-searching, thinking what could have been.”
But two decades on, Hampson sees things differently. The career he imagined may never have happened, but something else has taken its place – a purpose he says is more fulfilling than he could ever have imagined.
“I think now I have found something fulfilling and something I absolutely love with my foundation. It is a calling rather than a job.”
Today, he is not defined by the rugby career that ended prematurely, but by the Matt Hampson Foundation and the people whose lives it helps change. “I am privileged every time I drive up to our Get Busy Living Centre and see our beneficiaries improving and growing as people and following our mantra. That is what it is all about.”
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When the life you planned is no longer possible
As a young professional sportsperson, Matt was understandably focused on himself. Being an elite athlete required it. “As a 20-year-old, you are self-absorbed – rightly so as a professional sportsperson because you have to be very focused on yourself and being the best you can be.”
His injury forced him to reconsider what that focus could look like. “I think now I am not ‘Matt Hampson the ex-rugby player’ and I am ‘Matt Hampson founder of the Matt Hampson Foundation’, which is more important and more fulfilling than I could have ever dreamt of as a rugby player.”
The change was not immediate. It came through years of rehabilitation, adjustment and learning to live with a body that could no longer do the things it once had. But gradually, his attention shifted from what had been lost to what could still be built.
Finding strength in what you can do
Rehabilitation was particularly difficult in the early years. “I found rehab very difficult initially. Going back to being a professional athlete, you lift weights to get stronger, you run in pre-season to get fitter, but there wasn’t much I could do with my rehab.”
For someone whose identity had been so closely tied to physical strength, that was a profound adjustment. “I had been defined by my physicality as an athlete but then came out of that and had to look at the things I could do and be more proactive with them.”
That became a turning point. Instead of measuring strength by what his body could physically achieve, Matt began to channel it elsewhere – into raising awareness, supporting others and creating something that could help people facing similar circumstances. “That is what I channeled my strength into. The greatest thing we can give is helping others, make an impression on their lives and helping them on their journey.”
“That is what I channeled my strength into. The greatest thing we can give is helping others, make an impression on their lives and helping them on their journey.”
For Matt, purpose became another form of strength. “We all need a purpose and to go to bed at night feeling that we have made a difference and done something fulfilling.”
Redefining life after injury
That idea became central to the philosophy behind the Foundation: focus on what you can do rather than what you cannot. “After my accident I tried to focus on what I could do rather than what I couldn’t. That is important for anyone.”
It is not about pretending that life has not changed. In fact, Matt believes accepting that change is an important part of moving forward. “Being at peace with your injury is really important too and realising that life will never be the same again but that does not necessarily mean a negative, it can be positive.”
The challenge is to redefine yourself around the possibilities that remain. “You redefine yourself on what you can do and I think that is a lesson for us all.”
That philosophy is now something Matt sees reflected in the people who come through the Foundation.
Learning from the people he set out to help
The Matt Hampson Foundation provides specialist physiotherapy, personal training and rehabilitation for people living with life-changing injuries. But Matt says the relationship is far from one-sided. “I learn something from our beneficiaries every day.” The lessons often come in small moments – a piece of advice, a conversation or simply watching someone progress.
“You get little nuggets of advice and feedback, and you learn from each other. I am learning all the time – about this injury, about people, about life in general and how life is so precious to us all and you should just try to enjoy what you have and be as present as possible.”
Most importantly, he refuses to let injury become the defining feature of the people he meets. “In hospital you can be defined by the level of injury but I never ask our beneficiaries about that. The injury is not who they are, they are human beings.”
Finding his way back to a team
In 2026, Matt took on a challenge that even he might once have considered impossible – the London Marathon.
It was never going to be a conventional marathon experience. A team of people helped push his chair around the course, but for Matt, the challenge represented something much bigger than completing 26.2 miles. “I always want a goal and challenge. I saw our beneficiaries doing amazing things and thought ‘Why can’t I do something like that?’”
So he entered the ballot. When the confirmation arrived that he had secured a place, there was no going back. “That’s when we had to start working out how we could do it and prepare for it.”
So he entered the ballot. When the confirmation arrived that he had secured a place, there was no going back. “That’s when we had to start working out how we could do it and prepare for it.”
The training became as important as the race itself. “To do the training and the marathon alongside some of my dearest friends was really important for me too. I felt part of a team again, felt involved, felt I had something to train and build for.”
Then came race day. “The atmosphere on the day was incredible, not just from people competing but everybody on the roadside. It was an amazing day I will never, ever forget.” And crossing that finish line brought a simple feeling. “I was proud to complete it.”
But there is little time to rest. With the New York City Marathon ahead in November, Matt is already training again.
The moments he never thought would happen
The London Marathon is one of several experiences that would have seemed unimaginable to Matt during those early days in hospital. “The London Marathon this year was one of them – as a 17-stone prop forward I certainly never thought I’d do that.”
But some of the biggest surprises have had nothing to do with sport. “I never imagined seeing myself speaking in front of an audience.” That makes some of the places he has since found himself all the more remarkable. “Being asked to speak at Westminster Abbey, for example, is not something I ever thought would happen.”
The man who once struggled with reading in front of people now speaks in front of audiences sharing lessons from a life he never expected to live.
What the mantra really means
The phrase at the heart of Hampson’s Foundation came from The Shawshank Redemption. But 20 years on, it has become far more than a line from a film.
“Get Busy Living” is now the philosophy behind everything the Foundation represents. “I don’t think I truly knew the meaning or the impact of that message until you see our beneficiaries living by it and seeing them progress and live by it every day.”
Initially, the phrase had a broad meaning. Lying in hospital and facing life in a wheelchair, Matt felt as though the life he knew had been taken away. “When you are lying in a hospital bed thinking life will be different in a wheelchair, you can become institutionalised.”
But with time came a different understanding. “You feel they have taken your life away, it’s never going to be the same again. It does change, but it does get better the more you come to terms with it and there is still a fulfilled life to lead.”
That is the message Matt understands most clearly now: life can change completely without becoming less valuable.
“It does change, but it does get better the more you come to terms with it and there is still a fulfilled life to lead.”
The advice he would give his younger self
For someone whose injury has suddenly rewritten the future they imagined, he does not pretend there is an easy answer. “Life does not always go to plan, but that is not necessarily a negative thing.”
Instead, he points to the things that helped him build a new life: people, purpose, small achievements and learning to be present. “Positivity and surrounding yourself with people who love you and genuinely want to help and support you, that is what is really important.”
He also believes progress does not have to be measured in enormous achievements. “Try to achieve something in your day, no matter how small, enjoy your life for what it is and be as present as possible.” And sometimes, there needs to be room for a little humour too. “Give yourself a break sometimes. Like my grandad used to say, ‘If you can’t laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?’”
He also believes progress does not have to be measured in enormous achievements. “Try to achieve something in your day, no matter how small, enjoy your life for what it is and be as present as possible.”
If he could go back to that hospital bed 20 years ago and speak to the person he was then, Matt knows exactly what he would say. “I would tell him life is going to be pretty good and fulfilled in this situation. You will have experiences you never thought you would before.” There would be no need to have all the answers. No need to know exactly what the future would look like. “Don’t worry, it will work its way out. It does get better, it does get easier.”
That is what getting busy living has ultimately come to mean: not pretending life hasn’t changed, but discovering that a different life can still be a good one.
Learn more about the Matt Hampson Foundation via their website, Instagram, Facebook and X.
