COASTLINE CHALLENGE 2017 One man, one handcycle, 2,500 miles and 27 days. This has been my most ambitious challenge yet. After two years of planning it’s hard to believe I’ve finally done it. There were many occasions over the last two years when I thought it would never happen. To say I was not nervous…
I‘m one of the many people who marvelled at the London 2017 World Para Athletics Championships this week with the cream of disabled sporting talent competing against each other on the track and field. With SCI people featuring not just as athletes but also as presenters and commentators, it’s been a powerful example of what…
Back in the mists of time, before most of my hair fell out and my beard turned grey, I’d regularly run marathons. I’d even done some high-profile ones such as Paris. However, my friends said that I wasn’t a “proper” marathoner because I’d not run London (and that was the only real marathon in their…
Charting the story of Formula One’s most celebrated family, Williams is a thrilling account of how one man built a racing empire and a vivid, heart-rending portrait of the aftermath of a tragedy, based on the 1991 book by Lady Virginia Williams – A Different Kind of Life. The film premiered at The Curzon…
Last week’s National Audit Office report into NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding may not be occupying space in the typical beach bag as the summer read of the year. It does though do a good job of shedding much-needed light on the opaque workings of NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) – a vital lifeline of support for…
After her stepson Bobby struck her with a hockey, causing a spinal cord injury, EastEnders’ Jane Beale, played by Laurie Brett in the BBC One hit soap, has been through many trials and tribulations. Jane’s storyline has demonstrated the difficulties that newly injured people face in the first year after injury, such as…
If you had asked me a couple of years ago how the fight for equal rights for disabled people was going I would probably have said “Slowly, but inexorably moving in the right direction”. However today the same enquiry would probably elicit a very different response. I believe that a political climate has developed where…
On Tuesday 6th June 2017, Spinal Injuries Association (SIA) hosted its fifth annual Rebuilding Lives Awards at Williams F1 Conference Centre in Didcot, Oxfordshire, to recognise an array of inspiring people within the spinal cord injured community. The Rebuilding Lives Awards recognise the outstanding achievements of individuals and groups in the spinal cord injury community,…
Five years ago, Carly Taylor fell from a wall causing her to break her neck and suffer a C4 incomplete spinal cord injury. Now 27 years old, Carly is married to her husband Nelly, has set up her own jewellery business called Olive May and has travelled to Miami for a month this February to…
My first experience of a Paralympic Games was even better than I thought it would be. My teammates had told me that a Games will always exceed your expectations and they were totally right. At the time of London 2012, I hadn’t yet had my injury and had no connection with the world of disability sport…
Eleven years ago, Jordan Bone, who was only 15 at the time was involved in a traumatic car accident. Following the accident Jordan found out she had been injured, suffering a C6 complete spinal cord injury. Now 27 years old, Jordan turned her life around through her love for beauty and fashion, setting up her own YouTube channel…
Professor Geoffrey Raisman, FRS, Chair of Neural Regeneration, UCL Institute of Neurology died on Friday 27 January 2017. Geoffrey Raisman was a pioneer in his field and a world-leader in spinal cord injury science, developing new approaches to improving recovery from spinal injury. His ground-breaking work has been recognised by election as Fellow of…
