Blog
Philip and Diane's Story
Philip Potts is a full-time carer for his wife Diane. She was paralysed from the neck down after a horse-riding accident in 2021. Philip explains how he and Diane have benefited from meeting others in similar situations at SIA’s Cambridge community group.
Diane has been riding horses since she was six years old. In October 2021, during a casual ride, the horse stumbled, Diane fell head-first, breaking her neck in two places and damaging her spinal cord. The air ambulance rushed her to intensive care at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge and she was later transferred to Sheffield Spinal Unit. The accident left her paralysed from the neck down.
When Diane eventually came home, the carers were useless so I just looked after her myself. To this day, I’ve carried on doing the same.
It’s pretty exhausting, and I have to say, if I hadn’t had my robust military training, it would have been even harder. I had to use those resources mentally to push through.
We came across SIA as Diane started to get her continence and medical supplies through SIA Healthcare. Then we heard about the community groups and went along to a meeting in Cambridge. At the initial meeting it was just us, Kevin from SIA, and a chap who we’ve become very good friends with now along with his wife.
It’s been great talking to Kev as an ex-military person. There’s a bond between military people. You tend to find with military, when things get hard, the humour kicks in. That’s how we survived.
Over the years, the group has got bigger, with anywhere from seven to 20 people now at a meeting. We’ve found it invaluable, because it’s not just chatting to other people, it’s the cross information. Staff are also now coming from Addenbrooke’s with patients who are not yet discharged, which is an extra benefit for them.
Your life changes in a snap of a finger when it’s an accident. At first you think you’re on your own, but then you start to meet other people in the same boat and I think that’s where SIA is invaluable. You haven’t got a clue, so people are helping you. And then as you get more experienced, you meet other people who are just getting on that ladder and then you help them.
In the early stages, your world has crashed and you’re trying to struggle through. I try to help people who are brand new, help reassure them that although it’s horrendous at the moment, things will improve.
Kev has kept the meetings rolling and has done a sterling job. And we’re very, very grateful to SIA. I would think without it, a lot of people would struggle. Diane has also completed an Emergency Care Plan with SIA’s nurse Sian who attends the meetings. That’s with us all the time, just in case Diane has to go to hospital.
People at SIA meetings were talking about an inclusive holiday resort in the UK, so we went. We had a great time and we’re going back again. We tried wheelchair yoga, I sat on a chair doing it. It was marvellous. We only heard about it from a couple of people who’ve been at the SIA meetings, and we’ve told people about things they didn’t know. It’s the beauty of those meetings – you’re helping other people. It’s very beneficial.
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