A Paralympic gold medallist is now paralysed from the neck down and does not expect to return home again except for his funeral, saying he has months to live. Dave Smith, 47, has a spinal tumour which has spread to his brain. The rower is only able to communicate through a messaging system.

“On Thursday I was moved to palliative care,” he said, “and told that I have four months to live. I'm going to fight with every will in my body, but I'm also aware my time on this planet is coming to an end.”

Dave, who grew up in the Scottish Highlands, first underwent surgery for a tumour inside his spinal cord in 2010. He was left temporarily paralysed, an issue that was later determined to be the result of a blood clot. In August last year, he noticed he had blurred vision, fatigue and a painful head, which he initially put down to watching too much TV while he recovered from an injury.

• M4 traffic UPDATES: Rush-hour chaos as motorway CLOSED in Berkshire after crash


• UK snow maps reveal blizzard bringing eight inches will bury 18 cities this week

But his family grew concerned when he became withdrawn and short-tempered, and in October he had surgery. Doctors confirmed that he had tumours in his brain. Speaking this weekend, Dave said he had started to feel “a little bit sick” last Wednesday afternoon.

“By 3pm I was completely paralysed from the neck down. But I'm gonna try and push as long as I can,” he said. “It's kind of crazy to have started the week going down to the gym, travelling to Holland to speak to Nike and then end the week lying in a hospital bed unable to move.

“All I want to do is get back home. I didn't realise the next time I will be returning home might possibly be for my funeral. I feel this is harder for my family and friends than it is for me since I feel like I've had so much time to prepare for this.

“I'm always humbled to see my face appear on the wall in Kingussie High School. I just wish I could've attended in person to talk to the youngsters about the importance of chasing a dream. I am now planning to get my medal framed and to give it to Newtonmore Primary School - as even growing up in a small Highland village you can travel the world and represent your country.”

Dave was born with a club foot and for the first three years of his life he had his bones repeatedly broken and reset to correct the alignment. He was selected for the team which competed for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in the mixed coxed four event at Eton Dorney. The Great Britain crew won gold.

In 2013 he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to rowing.