How Yorkshire dog groomer overcame spinal injury to compete and teach around the world

But less than a month later, the business took a further hit when he was suddenly hospitalised with a back injury.

What begun as twinges in his back turned into excruciating pain that left him struggling to move.

“I collapsed, my legs just stopped working, I couldn’t feel my left leg, just excruciating pain,” he recalls. “By the fifth day I couldn’t move at all.”

James went to A&E at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary before being transferred to Leeds General Infirmary.

There, it was discovered he had damaged his spinal cord and he underwent surgery on his back.

“The pain went overnight,” he says. “I couldn’t walk properly but I was using walking aids, I was 32-years-old using a zimmer frame.”

James returned home after a week and began his recovery. But three weeks later, things took a turn for the worse and the pain started to return, accompanied by tremors.

He ended up spending another two weeks in hospital, with changes made to his medication, before beginning physiotherapy and starting to learn how to walk again. Still today he experiences pain and there are parts of his leg that he describes as feeling numb due to irreversible nerve damage.

"I experienced numerous complications, including medication-induced seizures, spasms and other conditions,” he says.

"I had to learn how to walk again over a long period of time with intensive physiotherapy...I still suffer pain now although I am as recovered as can be.”

At last, in October 2020, James was able to turn his focus back to his dog grooming business.

“I’ve had to adapt the way I work. I don’t work with big dogs anymore.

"I used to work with dogs with behavioural issues but I can’t do that anymore. I have to keep it nice and simple.

“It totally changed the way I worked,” he continues. “My wife Joanne had to leave her job to work for me.

"There’s no way I could bath dogs, lift them up and down, do everything I could do before.

"So we took the plunge and started to work together to keep the dream alive.”

That dream, he believes, stems somewhat from his childhood, much of which he spent on his grandfather’s farm on the outskirts of Halifax.

From an early age, he says he was fascinated by the animal world and as a young boy, he learnt to ride horses and spent many happy moments exploring the countryside with his grandad’s dogs.

"I was never allowed my own though, because my mum was allergic to them,” he says.

In 2019, James changed his career path, having spent much of his working life until that point in local government with Kirklees Council. The now 35-year-old signed up to a dog grooming course and was “instantly hooked”.

In the past three years, he has built up the business, grown a social media following of tens of thousands of people as The Northern Dog Barber, and has experienced success in competition grooming.

He now also travels across the globe to deliver workshops to other dog groomers and works with brands including dog grooming product supplier Hyponic and scissor company Kenchii.

"My main aim is to educate other dog groomers and the general pet owner to highlight the work involved and the things that we do as dog groomers,” he says.

“I’ve been at rock bottom to now and it’s a complete and utter turnaround. When you do put your heart and soul into things, you can make things happen,” he adds.

“It’s taken this long to come to terms with everything. In the dog grooming world, it’s unbelievable how many groomers suffer from spinal conditions and injuries...

"People don’t see that I’ve got a life-altering disability. It isn’t apparent. I want to highlight the pain people go through that you don’t see.

“And also show that it’s not the end of the world when things do go wrong. There are ways to make the best of what you’ve got.”