A glass half full: looking on the bright side

When I had a complete spinal cord injury midway through my medical school training in March 1992, I didn't know whether I would be independently mobile, let alone work as a doctor in clinical practice. The essential elements that enabled me to achieve more than I could have ever envisaged are support, opportunity, choice, determination, and being able to focus on one or two goals at a time.

I was in my first clinical year at St Bartholomew's Medical School in London when I had my accident. I was paralysed from the lower chest down, and I had a tracheal stricture as a complication of a tracheostomy. Reinsertion of the tracheostomy had been necessary, but the tracheal stricture above it meant that I was unable to speak until I had had major throat reconstructive surgery. Nevertheless, everyone at medical school in London was very positive about having me back. Fundraising enabled me to buy a lightweight wheelchair and have the remainder to put towards a car. This unconditional support was such a boost to my mental state when adapting to my situation, especially when considering whether I wanted to continue …