“Decreasing the friction in your environment is better than trying to work on your willpower.”
I read this quote this week and it gave me some comfort: that my internal struggles along this journey are not just a lack of willpower but could be linked to my environment.
As I struggle to pull myself from my bed, I try to understand how one week I can ski all over a mountain or cycle up it, then the following week hardly move.
It’s as if I am more paralysed in my mind than body, but then I read this and think about my environment in London.
Four flights of stairs to navigate to get to my car then the rush of the city mixed with very little disabled parking. Let’s just say the environment here is definitely not lending itself to making life easier for me to pursue sports as a tetraplegic.
I know you might think I am over-thinking this. But I have to say living with this high-level spinal cord injury is getting harder each year.
I thought at the start that I would move again, or a cure would come. But now, seven years in, this week has seen me only leave my home once.
I know I need to change my environment to give me the best chance to enjoy my life. I need to find a way to overcome the mental struggle I have with my paralysis.
Eagle-eyed F1 fans will notice that it is not just Red Bull pushing for a cure for spinal injury but will also sport the Spinal Injuries Association logo on the Williams cars this season. When I see this it gives me hope that there are lots of people invested in finding a cure.
The Spinal Injuries Association was founded by Susan Cunliffe-Lister who was one of Britain’s first Paralympic medallists. After a riding accident that left Susan paralysed from the chest down in 1958, her first-hand experience lef to her forming the association in 1974.
Sadly, Susan passed away in March and won’t get to see the association’s logo race around the world this year on the Williams cars.
But her legacy will live for many years and hopefully one day will be part of a cure for all of us living with a spinal cord injury.
Every day in the UK people are told they will never walk again due to this type of injury. I still remember when I woke up to discover my surgery team had made a mistake and paralysed me.
The trauma of that moment has lived with me since and causes me more stress than my tumour.
The injury is life-changing and it can happen to anyone at any time.
In a split second your life can be changed forever. The isolation the injury can lead to is something that I struggle with. I can go weeks on my own now not seeing anyone and I am starting to notice the mental impact this is having on me. The Spinal Injuries Association helps people, and their families, rebuild their lives after a spinal-cord injury. And as I write this, I start to think maybe I need to reach out for help.
I have always just pushed on and tried to find my way with this injury, but now I think even I need to pause and pick up the phone to ask for help with navigating life with paralysis.
This year the association and Williams Racing launched the Frank Williams Academy in London. The launch was attended by the association’s patron HRH The Princess Royal and Frank William’s daughter, Claire Williams, who is the vice president of the Spinal Injuries Association.
The academy honours Sir Frank’s legacy and his achievements after he suffered a spinal cord injury when he was 44 in a car accident. Sir Frank is a massive inspiration to show that you can still flourish in life with a spinal injury if you have the support.
Seeing her dad achieve such greatness as he lived with his paralysis clearly inspired Claire and the work she has done to launch the academy is testament to the strength her dad showed. It was the Spinal Injury Association that helped Sir Frank as he learned to live as a tetraplegic, so it is heart-warming to see this partnership that will push spinal injury research and education to the next level.
It can support all of those living with paralysis and maybe one day, collectively, will result in a real medical breakthrough in this area that would change so many people’s lives.
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