|
|
Post by mermaidsal on May 15, 2009 12:54:37 GMT
Today, 15 May, is Spinal Injuries Awareness Day www.backuptrust.org.uk/spinalinjuryawarenessday.htmlToday, 3 people in the UK will suffer an accident or injury that leaves them permanently paralysed. I'm not rattling a tin but just trying to spread the message and say be aware, this needn't happen anything like as much. 80% of spinal cord injury victims are male and a lot are in the 18-25 age group. Causes are often avoidable, car and bike accidents, jumping off a high diving board when you're pissed, falling off a balcony on holiday, classic young blokes' misadventures. Yes there's stem cell research, and maybe just maybe in our lifetimes there'll be a cure for a wrecked spinal cord, but in the meantime if this message stops just one person doing something that could mess their lives up forever... And a message from those of us unlucky enough to have become paralysed through a spinal injury - life doesn't stop, it's a very different way of living but it can still be a good one. Small things make a massive difference though if you use a wheelchair, cars parked on pavements, inaccessible shops and loos, able-bodied drivers parking in blue badge spaces - it's often just basic, simple lack of consideration that can stop people like me feeling equal members of society. So like I say, this isn't about rattling a tin (although if you can spare a few pounds, Spinal Injuries Association and BackUp do great work) but just saying please be aware, put spinal cord injuries in the front of your mind for today, maybe imagine the world in a wheelchair on your way home from work this afternoon - quite a few of us already know or will know someone whose life and family have been affected in this way, and if you don't know anyone else you know me.  xx Sally (don't worry I'll move this off the main board, just wanted to start it on here  ) |
|
|
|
Post by cantspellwontspell on May 15, 2009 12:59:07 GMT
leave it on the mainboard sal, the message needs a wider audience than the GDB deliquents ;D
|
|
|
|
Post by Beardy200 on May 15, 2009 13:07:30 GMT
leave it on the mainboard sal, the message needs a wider audience than the GDB deliquents ;D Delinquents? How dare you! ;D We're the people who care about other stuff aswell not just when the new strip is coming out and arguing about singing Delilah too quick |
|
|
|
Post by Ghostface on May 15, 2009 13:22:00 GMT
I conna believe I didn't know about this, working on a Neuro unit. The number of young lads we get in, in situations Sal so excellently describes is shocking. And not just spinal injures, but head injuries too, which in my opinion can be so much worse. The amount of young lads we've had in recently who've been assaulted or in RTA's is ridiculous, and they're never the same person again. Today is an excellent opportunity to simply reassess your life, and think....
|
|
|
|
Post by Nick1984 on May 15, 2009 14:06:35 GMT
My cousin broke her back in a crash involving a taxi with no seatbelts.
|
|
|
|
Post by wizzardofdribble on May 15, 2009 14:08:21 GMT
The thing is Sal is that people never think anything like this is going to happen to them...When I worked at St Edwards Hospital one of my clients had worked on the new (as it was then) Aston Villa Stand roof..a successful contractor with a wife and 2 kids and a big house in Stafford...and he slipped and fell through part of the roof and seriously damaged his spine...12 months later, no job..no wife..no kids..no house...and that's why he ended up in a Psychiatric Hospital...
I could tell you a 100 similar stories of how people's lives have been turned upside down through industrial injuries or just sheer bad bloody luck..
Absolutely tragic and it can happen to anyone at anytime..
|
|
|
|
Post by Lakeland Potter on May 15, 2009 14:10:39 GMT
Well said Sal. I really hope this doesn't get moved from this board - like all threads it will drop down in its own good time.
Sal you are an inspiration to us all.
|
|
|
|
Post by wizzardofdribble on May 15, 2009 14:15:01 GMT
And one more thing Sal..one of my children is paralysed on one side of her body and has to be carried everywhere...so I can appreciate some of the difficulties you face... And don't start me on blue badges and people who park in disabled spaces without them  ;D |
|
|
|
Post by PickSCFC on May 15, 2009 18:20:38 GMT
sal
how did you do your injury
|
|
|
|
Post by mermaidsal on May 15, 2009 18:25:29 GMT
sal how did you do your injury Car accident, not my fault. (Stem cell research wouldn't be a lot of help for me because I lost my legs too) |
|
|
|
Post by tazi on May 15, 2009 18:30:44 GMT
Sal, so so sorry to hear that mate.
|
|
|
|
Post by mermaidsal on May 15, 2009 19:16:00 GMT
Sal, so so sorry to hear that mate. Cheers tazi, but I'm ace at wheelies these days ;D If you've been in a spinal unit with quads, who are never going to be independent, you get to being very grateful for full use of your arms, it makes all the difference. |
|
|
|
Post by Beardy200 on May 15, 2009 19:26:14 GMT
My mate at work, his wife has a spinal problem. He doesn't talk about it much but i think it's growing onto somewhere it shouldn't i believe. She has been supposed to have an operation to try and stop it getting any worse for ages and they've kept cancelling on her. She finally got in over the weekend and was put in a ward for a while and the lady in the next bed had had a similar operation. She was in such a bad way that my mate's wife couldn't go through with it in the end so i don't know what they are going to do next really. Very sad.  |
|
|
|
Post by jbstokie on May 15, 2009 19:36:34 GMT
Sounds like something dedicated to our back four
|
|
|
|
Post by surreystokie on May 15, 2009 22:37:35 GMT
Sal, having a 'get on with life' attitude and a sense of humour, helps enormously. The latter is obvious from your MB name.
I'm grateful for your PM's, re. my cousin Jackie and feel inspired by you both.
|
|
|
|
Post by sorethumbs on May 16, 2009 0:04:31 GMT
Quite funny on Thursday at work (on the biggest house you've ever seen) when we found a tree-house and I had to go and have a play. Sturdy wooden ladder to get up to the brilliant house and have a look round at the fantastic gardens. Found a hatch in the floor with a rope ladder going back down! 'That looks great and I'm still a kid in me 'ead!!' I say to myself. Quick weight test - no prob, big stainless-steel carabiners holding the ropes to the solid construction, so off I go down the ladder. Just clear of the hatch and everything goes pear-shaped! the rope swings away from my weight and the top rung I'm holding onto snaps. The sudden realisation of the impending bad landing turns time into my own slow motion video, I even have time to turn my head to see where I'm about to receive my punishment for my stupidity, just before the earth delivers it's sucker blow.
I had no air in my lungs to let out a roar of pain. First not daring to move, then rolling away from the pain shooting from my arse-cheek to my shoulder, I got to all fours then lolled back down again. Looking up at the rope as it swung easily after casting off it's idiot I got my first glimpse of the broken rung and cursed it. This must have been 14 feet up. Hugely lucky for me the ground was covered in bark-chippings and there was no sign of tree-roots which could have been the main difference in how I would be living the rest of my life (a thought which only occurred to me later in the evening) After ten minutes or so of easing bigger intakes of air into my lungs I hobbled off to tell my colleague of my adventure. Obviously this was 'the funniest thing ever' and a 'serves you right you daft t**t' kind of reception from my mate (I'm nearly 40) which is pretty much the same way all my mates have taken it and much amusement was had by all, as they say.
Except now I'm reading that Friday is 'Spinal Injury Day' and I'm sat here on pain-killers nursing a swollen arse-cheek, bruised kidneys (it feels) a dead arm, pains all between my shoulders and a stiff back in general.
And I feel so lucky.
Sorry to drag the story on but just wanted all to know that the potential for serious injury is waiting around every corner (and certainly up every height) so just think before you 'do', whether it be work or play. My story is probably quite amusing to most and obviously not even on the same plain as people like Sal but mine was entirely avoidable, given a little bit of thought for the possibilities.
Yes, it hurts.
No, I don't feel sorry for myself, just grateful it wasn't more serious.
Don't put yourself at risk. I know I've learnt my lesson.
|
|
|
|
Post by georgeberrysafro on May 16, 2009 5:37:07 GMT
Bump, I know it's the 16th but this is an important thread that could make a difference, especially over the weekend when so many more have the chance to read it.
|
|
|
|
Post by mermaidsal on May 16, 2009 12:31:19 GMT
Cheers George, and one last bump from me in a good cause...  |
|
|
|
Post by stokie25 on May 16, 2009 12:42:12 GMT
Sal, i think it's worth mentioning that you have adopted not just a courageous outlook on life but a survival attitude too. You have your children to care for in addition to your daily difficulties, which even for an able bodied person can be very challenging at times. I always draw inspiration from you, but not in a pitying way, just that i have no reason to feel sorry for myself just because i've had a rough day and the kids are fighting  I hope others not only read this and think about consequences of their actions, but read this and consider just how difficult life could be and how lucky they really are! Keep the fighting spirit sal |
|
)
