20 years ago I was involved in a road traffic accident whilst travelling in Africa with a friend. I sustained a spinal cord injury which left me completely paralysed from the waist down at the age of 25. At the time I had recently moved to London and started training to be a Clinical Psychologist. I was full of excitement and hope for the future and what life would hold. In an instant it felt as if all that had been taken away from me. There were some dark early days when it was very hard to believe life would ever be good again and it was hard to keep going. 

During my rehabilitation at the amazing National Spinal Injuries Centre, a friend called me and told me about Back Up. Back Up offer rehabilitation courses and services for people with spinal cord injury. They offer experiences that allow the individual with an injury to see and understand how it is possible to live a fulfilling, happy and successful life with a disability. Soon after leaving hospital, I joined a Back Up course in the Lake District. I sailed, abseiled, climbed, swam, camped and partied in my wheelchair and met a fantastic group of people all of whom viewed me just as they would have done before the accident. I felt like me again. I began to rebuild my confidence and believe that life could be good. I learnt the skills I needed to be independent. I felt able to go back to work and to my training and to take on challenges that I had imagined were now completely beyond my abilities. The things I learnt and the network of friends that I met through Back Up have sustained and encouraged me throughout my 20 years of living with this injury. Back Up showed me what was possible at a time when I thought life was over. 

I am now a Consultant Clinical Psychologist running a primary care mental health service for the NHS. I have helped Back Up to develop and build their award winning mentoring service for people with spinal cord injury and their families. I live in London with my husband and 7 year old daughter. I'm not sure that any of this would have been possible without the skills, self-belief and confidence which Back Up helped me to develop. Back Up really did enable me to rebuild my life. 

The team helping me get up the highest mountain in the UK are a mixture of brilliant friends and family members from all over the country. They have all witnessed the incredible support I have had from Back Up over the years and are aware of how much this means to me. I decided that the 20th anniversary of my accident needed marking in some crazy way and am really keen to raise as much as possible to help this vital charity to continue doing the important work it does. 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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