"What have YOU done today to make you feel proud?" Heather Small (2000)
"What have YOU done today to make you feel proud?" Heather Small (2000) |
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4th March 2002 |
On numerous occasions since the accident occurred, people have come up to me, congratulated me on doing so well, and saying how they wouldn't be able to cope in the same circumstance. My typical answer is to say you really don't know how you are going to react until you have been put in the situation. I certainly had no idea I would react the way I have, but also I see things with one important difference. I am having to live this EVERY day. There's no way my leg will ever grow back, or things change like that, so it's a case of if you want to enjoy life again, you HAVE to make the effort to get on with things. My outlook on life has been changed too. Before the accident, like many other people, I was guilty of chasing the biggest of this, the latest of that, and working out how to keep up with the Jones'. But the accident has taught me one huge and valuable lesson - life itself, and the people you live it with, are by far the greatest reason for being here. I'm glad to be surrounded by a lot of people, family and friends, who care and want me as part of their lives. May I never lose sight of this fact.
The second was a song in the charts called "Proud" by Heather Small. You'll notice the line I took to on the top of every page of this site, because it was again the stimulus to think positively. It didn't matter how small or unimportant the achievement was, it was a case of pushing myself further than what I could do the day before. And lastly I adopted the motto of "No Fear". Basically I've learnt that if you fear anything, you won't attempt to do that task with the whole of your conviction. And then it will slide and your focus will drift, and you'll never achieve your goal. For me, it was a case of believing the left leg would heal well, and that I could stand again on two legs. And having achieved those goals, I still continue that thought process through every other action I do. To remind myself of this, I have the logo stuck on my wheelchair, here on the website, and now across the top of the windscreen of the car. But this doesn't mean I've become reckless in my actions, everything still needs to be controlled.
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When I was in hospital, there were a couple of things that
inspired me to get started. The first was from a TV ad campaign that had been
run several months previously by the ISP Freeserve. There, a catwalk model who
had no lower legs but was fitted with the torsion strings disabled athletes use,
got dressed up as a cheetah, in costume and make-up, and was then seen running
at pace along the catwalk. I was already inspired by her bravery to do this in
public before the
accident; afterwards it was a case of if she can do that, and so publicly too, then
I've got no problem at all. The model is Aimee Mullins, and I hope one day to
get the opportunity to thank her, for what she did for me.