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A family holiday, a cycling training ride, a dive at a waterfall, a car journey at the age of two. For Sam Bloom, Delia Guggenheim, Thibaud Coudriou and Nico Langmann, these were the circumstances in which they sustained a spinal cord injury. What followed changed their lives and their understanding of themselves.
Narrated by Olympic champion and alpine ski racerLindsey Vonn,BACKBONEbrings together their four stories, examining the practical and personal consequences of injury: how everyday life changes, relationships evolve, and a sense of identity is questioned when familiar ways of living are no longer possible.
BACKBONEisavailable on Red Bull TVfrom 5 November 2026. Its release coincides with registration opening on the same day at 12:00 CET for theWings for Life World Run, which takes place worldwide on 9 May 2027 at 13:00 CEST.
Context
BACKBONErevisits the moments that changed everything for its four protagonists, offering a candid portrayal of what came next. Their stories reveal pain, anger, uncertainty, and the distress of needing help with ordinary tasks such as getting dressed or rolling over in bed. Yet the film also traces how support from loved ones, understanding within a new community, and a renewed sense of purpose through sport help its protagonists find hope and a new way forward.
Alongside its personal accounts, the documentary explains how damage to the spinal cord disrupts communication between the brain and body, affecting movement and sensation. It connects these experiences with the Wings for Life Foundation’s mission to find a cure through scientific research.
For those featured, the possibility of a cure means regaining experiences many people take for granted: for Delia Guggenheim, running again; for Thibaud Coudriou, walking on the beach with his wife; and for Sam Bloom, riding her mountain bike to a favourite spot in nature and feeling the earth beneath her again. Nico Langmann’s story approaches the future from a different perspective. He describes how accepting himself allowed him to pursue goals of his own, including his ambition to compete at a Grand Slam in wheelchair tennis.
The documentary also features British actress Naomi Watts, who portrayed Sam Bloom in the 2020 drama filmPenguin Bloom.
Key Facts
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Title:BACKBONE
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Format:Documentary,available on Red Bull TV
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Release Date:05 November 2026
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Narrator:Lindsey Vonn (USA) - Red Bull athlete, Olympic champion and alpine skier
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Featuring:Sam Bloom, Delia Guggenheim, Thibaud Coudriou, Nico Langmann
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Additional Interview:Naomi Watts
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Focus:Life after a spinal cord injury and the importance of scientific research
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Wings for Life World Run Date:09 May 2027
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Registration Opens:05 November 2026, 12:00 CET
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Research Funding:100% of entry fees and donations go directly to spinal cord research
Documentary Overview
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Sam Bloom:Bloom sustained a spinal cord injury in 2013 when a rooftop railing gave way during a family holiday in Thailand, causing her to fall six metres. After seven months of rehabilitation, returning home brought another adjustment: her children were now helping to care for her.
In the film, she reveals she had dark thoughts but decided to hold on for her three children and husband. Caring for Penguin, an injured baby magpie, brought the household a shared focus, and later kayaking helped her reconnect with nature. A letter from Nola Wilson, mother of surfing pro Julian Wilson and a former surfer herself, encouraged Bloom to return to surfing, and she became a four-time para-surfing world champion. The film also shows the realities behind that success: persistent pain, help getting into the water, and the importance of a community of fellow competitors.
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Delia Guggenheim:Guggenheim was a few minutes from home after a cycling training ride when she was struck by a car. InBACKBONE, she returns to the scene and watches footage of the collision for the first time, a year later. She recalls struggling to breathe, fearing she would not survive, and being unable to speak while intubated. Through rehabilitation and its less visible daily challenges, she was supported by her mother and former coach, who also organised a Wings for Life World Run team in her name to bring a smile to her face.
Training offers moments of connection with her body: she describes how losing everything that once defined her left only her spirit, yet, in an unexpected way, it also let her get to know herself again. Ten months after her injury, she is preparing in the Alps to return to a race in the Sahara Desert in a wheelchair, having completed it on foot before the accident. Since filming, Delia has completed the Sahara race, returning home in recent weeks.
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Thibaud Coudriou:A dive into water at a waterfall during a hiking trip with friends in Arizona's Grand Canyon left Thibaud with a cervical vertebrae injury, limited arm function, and no hand function. The documentary brings together his account and those of the friends who helped rescue him, then follows his rehabilitation in Nebraska, where he confronts pain, guilt, uncertainty, and the need for daily assistance.
Before his injury, he had cycled through 30 countries and completed an Ironman in under ten hours. Physical therapy, learning transfers, and building a routine help him reconnect with movement; later scenes show him exploring the outdoors with a handbike, a trail hopper, and a manual wheelchair. His closing reflection is a personal wish rather than an endurance goal: walking on the beach with his wife, as they often did together.
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Nico Langmann:Langmann was two years old when a car accident crushed his spine, leaving him paralysed. His childhood was shaped by his family's determination that he would walk again, including years of alternative therapies in countries such as India and Russia. He describes the pressure of those expectations and recalls sometimes pretending the treatments were working to make his parents happy.
As a teenager, he decided to stop pursuing them and accept his life as it was. Wheelchair tennis became central to his future: he became junior world champion, won international tournaments, and represented Austria at the Paralympic Games. His ambition to compete at a Grand Slam shows acceptance not as the end of aspiration, but as the basis for goals of his own.
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Lindsey Vonn:Olympic champion and four-time overall World Cup winner, Vonn is the narrating voice ofBACKBONE, connecting the four personal stories and explaining the science behind spinal cord injury and why research matters. In her opening contribution, she describes knowing what it means to be unable to get up without assistance and to live with pain and limitations following injury; however, she explicitly distinguishes her experience, which lasted a few months, from the lasting changes faced by the documentary’s characters.
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Naomi Watts:The actress appears because of her connection to Sam Bloom, whom she portrayed in the 2020 filmPenguin Bloom. InBACKBONE, she recalls discovering the book on which the film was based (Penguin Bloom) while reading with her children, and being moved by the arrival of the injured magpie at a very difficult time. She also discusses the access she was given to Bloom’s private journals written after the injury, which informed her preparation for the role.
Quotes – Exclusive Q&A
Q: What do you hopeBACKBONEhelps people understand about life after a spinal cord injury that they might not otherwise see or realise?
Sam Bloom: I hopeBACKBONEmakes people stop and really confront the enormity of what a spinal cord injury takes from a person. Not just the physical ability to move, but independence, identity, control and often the life you imagined you would have had. It can happen to anyone, in a split second, and sometimes through no fault of your own. The hardest part is that the injury doesn’t end when the initial trauma is over. It becomes part of every day, touching almost every aspect of your life in ways most people will never see or understand. It changes your relationship with your body, your sense of self, and the way you navigate the world.
I hopeBACKBONEhelps people look beyond the wheelchair and understand the enormous, lifelong impact of spinal cord injury. Because this isn’t just about what someone loses in an instant. It’s about everything they have to learn to live with, adapt to, and rebuild for the rest of their lives.
Delia Guggenheim: A spinal cord injury is so much more than "not being able to walk". It affects the whole body and changes everyday life in ways most people never think about. But you are not your injury: it’s neither a tragedy nor a hero story, but a life with plans, ambition, humour and a good dose of sarcasm. All we want is to be treated like anyone else. And the support of the people around you makes all the difference.
Thibaud Coudriou:I think that the classic answer to that question is: “Be grateful for your health and your ability to move. You don’t realise how lucky you are until you lose that ability.” In my case, I think I was very fortunate to be fully aware of how lucky I was when I was running alone along the beach, or swimming in the Pacific Ocean, or riding my bike in the Santa Monica Mountains. But what has become clearer to me is that it's all about the people.
After you become paralysed, trapped in a body, you need so much help with so many parts of life that you realise you can't make it without others: their love, time, resources, empathy, and support are what keep you going. The rest matters far less. You may have been, or still pretend to be, as independent as possible, but at the end of the day, relationships are what matter the most.
I hopeBACKBONEhelps people see that support isn’t an abstract idea. It shows up in the small, everyday ways people - family, friends, caregivers, coworkers, neighbors, members of the community, and even strangers - make life possible.
Q: If you could share one thought with someone who is just beginning to adjust to life after a spinal cord injury, what would you want them to know?
Sam Bloom:You may be feeling desperately lost. I know I was. Losing my independence and sense of who I was felt harder than being told I would never walk again. In those early days, I couldn’t imagine ever feeling happy again. Give yourself time and allow people to help you.
Living with a spinal cord injury doesn’t mean your life is over. There is still room for happiness, adventure, and purpose, even if you can’t imagine any of that right now. Your life may look different from the one you imagined, but there is still so much to live for.
Delia Guggenheim:Never stop dreaming big, because so much more is possible than you can imagine right now. Some things can’t be changed, and accepting that is a huge grieving process, so be kind to yourself, give yourself time, and give the difficult feelings the space they need. But don’t believe anyone who tells you what you can no longer do, not even your own thoughts, until you’ve tried it.
Since my accident, I’ve been in the Sahara and on the trails around Mont Blanc in a wheelchair, things I could never have imagined at the beginning. Accept the facts. Challenge the stories.
Thibaud Coudriou:For the six weeks that followed my accident, I had only one thought: dying. I felt my life was over. It had been so beautiful until then that I couldn’t imagine what came next being worth it. I had seen the Pyramids, Machu Picchu, the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty and the Taj Mahal; I had crossed over 30 countries by bicycle across four continents; I had been married for 10 years to someone I loved; I had a great job. I felt I’d had enough, and that it was time to end it.
I would tell someone who has just experienced a spinal cord injury that if they’re having thoughts like these, those thoughts can pass. That’s what people told me when I wanted to die. They said my mental state would change. I didn’t believe them, but they were right. With time, things can change. Just a year later, I can say that I’ve felt moments of deep joy. A couple of times, I’ve even felt grateful for what happened to me - believe it or not. So please hold on to the possibility that things can get better. You don’t have to believe that right now; just give yourself time and let people help you through it.
About the Wings for Life Foundation and the Wings for Life World Run
Wings for Life is a non-profit spinal cord research foundation with a single mission: to find a cure for spinal cord injury. It was founded in 2004 by two-time motocross world champion Heinz Kinigadner and Dietrich Mateschitz, after Kinigadner's son Hannes became tetraplegic following an accident in 2003.
Since 2004, Wings for Life has funded 372 research projects worldwide, from basic research to clinical trials. Through its Accelerated Translational Program, the foundation supports promising projects in the critical transition from preclinical research to clinical trials.
The Wings for Life World Run is one of the foundation's biggest sources of funding, with 100% of entry fees and donations going directly to spinal cord research. Participants around the world start at the same moment, and there is no finish line. Thirty minutes after the start, a Catcher Car begins to chase them, and results are measured in distance, not time.
Why It Matters
Much of what living with a spinal cord injury involves is not visible from the outside. As Delia Guggenheim says in the film, "Not being able to walk is not the biggest problem. It's all the things people don't see."
By showing persistent pain, daily assistance, and the impact an injury can have on family life,BACKBONEgives those realities a place in the public conversation. It also shows that there is no single way forward. Its protagonists find purpose in different places, from sport to community to acceptance, while living with the consequences of their injuries. For many, hope for a breakthrough sits alongside that.
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