In April 2024, I will be trekking through the Colombian Rainforest, to the Lost City of Teyuna to raise funds for Salisbury District Hospital's Stars Appeal (no. 1052284). I'm taking on this challenge as a way to give something back to the Stars Appeal, but my story starts over 30 years ago...

In 1991, whilst living in Hong Kong, I sustained a spinal injury during a solo sky-diving accident. The accident caused shattering and breaking of a number of my vertebrae, with bone fragments lodged in my spinal cord. This resulted in paralysis from the waist down and I was left with the prospect of not being able to walk again.

An amazing team of doctors performed pioneering spinal surgery, with a bone graft and spinal fusion. I then underwent intense physical therapy to regain mobility. I graduated from a wheelchair to a zimmer frame, to walking sticks and finally to walking unaided.

I still have a significant loss of feeling in my right leg, with right-sided weakness, due to the spinal cord damage, but I can walk! 

Since moving back to the UK and settling in Salisbury 27 years ago, I continue to receive on-going support and annual reviews with the Spinal Team at Salisbury District Hospital, who are amazing.

I go to the gym and walk regularly because exercise helps me to keep my body and core strong enough to outweigh the physical deficit caused by my injury. However, this 5-day Trek through the Colombian Rainforest will be unlike anything I have attempted before. 

I am taking on this challenge as a way to give something back to the Stars Appeal who have funded numerous crucial projects across the hospital, including the Spinal Unit, who have shown a tremendous amount of commitment and support whenever I have been in need. From referrals to urology, physiotherapy and podiatry, to guidance and support with the severe neuropathic pain I still experience, the Spinal Unit have enabled me to manage the challenges of my injury in a dignified way, and live my life to the full.