Lolly Mack - My story with Paralysis
About me....I was having the time of my life, working in the beauty industry in London meeting some amazing people along the way with many celebrity clientèle. I also won Party Girl of the Year in a national newspaper and was whisked off to Spain to film for Sky TV and did some modeling too. Chasing my dream job of being a TV presenter… traveling the world, having such an active life and I never stopped dancing! Little did I know my that life was certainly not to turn out the way I expected it. I was enjoying a night out with friends in a nightclub when a man came off of a balcony above me, landing on my head. I sustained a c4/5 spinal cord injury which means complete paralysis from the shoulders down (tetraplegia) as you can imagine it was completely devastating for me as well as my family.
I remember lying on the floor of the club and knew instantly that it was serious as all I could do was blink. You can read the full story "Return of the Mack" which was published in the Huff Post U.K. by my dear friend Sam who is a writer and was also with me on that dreaded night or check out my website: www.LollyMack.com I spent 10 long months in a spinal unit after having emergency surgery, extremely tough times.
Since returning home l have tried to keep as healthy as possible and do physiotherapy five times per week, came off all my medication three years ago also eat a really healthy diet. It’s been a very long hard journey over the years but with the love and support of my family I chose to fight and do everything that I possibly could for a cure for paralysis. One of my key aims is to raise awareness for spinal cord injury and to support research initiatives. The Daily Mail covered my story to promote awareness.
Cure Girl
I'm also a member of the Cure Girls, we're a group of women from across the world living with a spinal cord injury and our mission is to make chronic spinal cord injury curable! We support research initiatives and do whatever we possibly can to raise money and awareness. I've raised over £40,000 for our cause by doing a skydive, cycling over 1,000 miles on my adapted FES bike, organised parties, even given up chocolate and alcohol! Three years ago I came off all my medication for chronic pain, changed my lifestyle and dropped 4 dress sizes. I still maintain the hobbies and interests I had pre-injury such as travelling, beauty, fashion and love having fun and laughing as much as possible! I didn't win Party Girl of the Year in a national newspaper back in the day for nothing! Lol. I believe that one day there will be a cure for paralysis. In the meantime, I'll still be fighting for a cure and still be living my life to the fullest. #SCIAWARENESSDAY
