The other day I was visiting some blogs, and I read a post by Craig Breeze, (Breezie as he’s known to his friends). He has a fantastic blog with some excellent content, pop over and see; just click his name, above.

One of his posts was about cycling for fitness. I left a comment saying about how I use a hand cycle (being disabled) for fun, exercise and fund raising. I went on to say about some of the events I’ve taken part in for various charities, and for one of my nephews that suffered an acquired brain injury after being hit by a car while crossing the road.

Breezie sent me an email saying how inspired he was by my comment and asked if he could use it for a blog post, which I agreed to. I have since been back and had a read. After reading his post I, again, went to leave a comment. This time however it was so long that I decided to use it as a post myself in the hope of picking peoples spirits up and to show everyone that no matter how big of a challenge you face there is nearly always someone worse off.

I have spent many months, on many occasions, in the National Spinal Injuries Centre (Stoke Mandeville Hospital), during these times i have met many people that have very high lesions, resulting in not being able to move any part of their bodies at all. It was with these people in mind that i took up fund raising for Spinal Research. My thought was that if they could gain the use of their arms then they to could enjoy a quality of life and independence, similar to mine. I have some very good friends that are tetraplegic and unable to carry out the simplest of tasks, like scratching their nose or taking a drink of water for example.

After my initial injury i came around to find myself a new patient of the NSIC and was told that i would never walk again. I can not begin to describe how i felt upon hearing that news. It was the lowest that I’d ever felt in my life. My body was bent & buckled and i could only move my head from side to side and my left arm. My head was full of negative thoughts; “I can’t do this & that, I’ll never be able to do this thing and or that thing again”. They’re normal thoughts for the newly injured.

Because my injury was complete and wasn’t going to get any better, after 2 weeks laying flat on my back i was allowed to start sitting up. It was then that i realised that on my left was another man of the same age as myself who couldn’t move at all and was on a ventilator, which was keeping him breathing. He had to have the valve changed in his trachea so that he could TALK. On my right was a 3 year old boy, who was laughing with a nurse that had brought him balloons. It was one of those moments that I’ll never forget. There i was with a head full of mush and feeling sorry for myself, when here were others worse off than myself and getting on with it. It was at this point that i realised that i may have lost the use of my legs, but there was so many other things that I could still do. I could Breath, talk and feed myself.

After about 3 months i was able to use my right arm again and start my rehabilitation. I was taken under the wing by a Physiotherapist, who was my personal life coach. She taught me everything she could, how to dress myself, how to transfer myself from wheelchair to car, bath, toilet, sitting chair & bed, (which was well needed after those long tiresome days). She taught me how to get back into my wheelchair from the floor, in case I ever fell out of the wheelchair, which I have on many occasion.

One thing i learnt that has really stuck with me and my thoughts is that there is ALWAYS someone worse off than myself, and that thought has helped me overcome many of the hurdles life throws at us.

I now think that life is not like a box of chocolates it is more like an athletic track, you get so far around and come to the hurdles, you then have 4 choices;

1, You get over them

2, You go around them

3, You charge straight through them

4, You stay where you are and do nothing

1, 2 & 3 are, in my opinion, the only choices that we have, regardless of our situation. If we go with number 4 we are beaten, if ever you feel that way then you must reach out and ask for help or assistance because problems never fix themselves, only people can fix them.

Please remember:

THERE IS NEARLY ALWAYS SOMEONE WORSE OFF THAN YOURSELF.

If in doubt of that, go and visit a Spinal Unit, a Cancer Unit, a Burns Unit, a Hospice or a Children’s Hospital and when you see how some people have to suffer in their lives you may realise that your problems aren’t really as bad as you thought they were.

Be Brave

Be Strong

Be Positive

Until next time, take care

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