My Spinal Cord Injury Story
I have a spinal cord injury, level T3 complete, so I'm paralyzed from the chest down. This was a result of a cycling accident in 2013, whilst training for the London to Paris cycle ride. I was active and adventurous before the accident, and I still am. I wanted to get back to my life as soon as possible. It was hard at first to adjust. I stopped caring about the way I looked and only wore clothes which were easy to put on; throwing away so many dresses and outfits I didn't think I would ever be able to wear again.
Simple, everyday things took me longer to do and was frustrating at times. I didn't realize how much I used my core until I didn't have any. I soon got over that phase quickly. Why shouldn't I have pretty things and make an effort on my appearance? I respect myself and wanted to look good. Being in a wheelchair doesn't change that. It's the same with traveling and challenging myself. There are no excuses, I just had to find another way of doing things. Since then, I have an Instagram page, posting my outfits of the day, but mainly all the yummy food I eat. I'd like to think I still look stylish and my wheelchair, which is part of me now, compliments my look like a designer bag of some sorts.
Spinal Cord Injury Awareness
I also noticed there were lots of videos from guys in wheelchairs on YouTube, but not many from women. Ladies still have problems with high heels and girly problems, so I thought I'd do some videos of my own. I also love traveling, and try to go to as many different places as I can. I even made it to North Korea to do a 10k, raising just over £4k for Backup Trust, a spinal cord injury charity.
You can read my story here https://www.southwarknews.co.uk/news/wheel-chair-racer-denied-entry-north-korea-event-way/
I've been to Australia and did a bungee jump there, and have been thinking about what other crazy adventures I can do. My friends think I'm mad, but I like that I can still do, if not more, than what an able bodied person can do. I work, and pretty much do everything I did before being wheelchair bound.
Follow me on Instagram: @girl.on.wheels/
