My accident occurred on 2nd October 1999.
I was riding my Kawazaki GPZ 500 motorbike in Twickenham, London on the way to watch England play rugby in the World Cup.
I turned down a road that had speed bumps and on hitting the third one – for a reason still unknown to me today – I lost control of my bike, came off, hit a parked car and ended up in the road.
This collision severed my spinal cord at T9/10 leaving me with complete paralysis from about an inch above my belly button down. This means I can not now move my legs voluntarily therefore I am a wheelchair user. I am also unable to control by bladder or bowels.
I underwent rehabilitation at the Stanmore Spinal Injuries Centre and returned to work – as a solicitor – straightaway.
I was very fortunate in that I not only had extremely supportive family and friends during this period but I had an understanding of spinal injury already due to my best friend , Ben Smoldon, having broken his neck 8 years previously in a rugby match.
Having seen Ben cope so well with tetraplegia before my accident allowed me an insight into paralysis that was invaluable when I was getting to grips with my altered physical situation after my accident.
#1 by Lynn P. on July 2nd, 2010
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I’m writing a novel from the perspective of a middle-aged woman who has been paralyzed since she was a child. Now, the story isn’t about her. It’s about her sister, but she is definitely part of the story, since she lives with this sister, who mistreats her, as well as several other people. I’m coming up with problems in the telling of the story though. It’s minor things like “How do you carry a cup of coffee into another room while naviagating a wheelchair?” That’s why I’m writing you.
I have been researching the daily glitches, and have discovered some of the bigger problems – lung disease, bedsores, DVT, and ease of infections. I may have invented my narrator, but I really like her, so want to protect her as much as possible. (She does move out on her sister at the end of the book, once she finds out she isn’t as totally dependent on her as she thinks she is.)
Would you mind if I ask questions as I write this story? Obviously, I want the story to be accurate, but I just don’t know and can’t seem to find answers online.
I’m sure you have questions for me, too. Please feel free to ask away. My husband and I are both disabled, so I know something of what happens online, when holier-than-thou mockers pretend things to disabled people, before blasting us with their nastiness. I’m not one of those people, but the only way you’ll believe that is if I can, somehow, prove it to you. So, when I say “please feel free to ask,” I mean ask anything you want. This book is being written because of just those kinds of people, so it’s very important to me.
Thanks.