Disability is in the mind of the beholder

I met Dave in 1992, when we were both inpatients at a spinal injuries unit. Dave, a man in his early 30s, had suffered a complete high cervical spinal cord injury after diving into a swimming pool on holiday. His upper limb movement was extremely limited, which meant that he would need the use of an electrically powered wheelchair for mobility and help from others for most other things. I had sustained a complete midthoracic spinal cord injury in a tobogganing accident, resulting in permanent paraplegia.

We had both been in hospital for a couple …