Listening to writer Hanif Kureishi – who suffered a spinal injury 12 months ago – guest editing BBC radio 4’s Today programme over the festive period made me realise that an update is well overdue. I apologise upfront since this has turned into a bit of a ramble. The programme is well worth listening to, …
Care: If you care for someone or something, you look after them and keep them in a good state or condition. A company is a business organization that makes money by selling goods or services i.e. Its purpose is to make profit for its owners. An oxymoron is a word or phrase that combines two …
I finally have some news worth writing about. There are a few other topics I might attempt to write about, but the worthwhile subject is my successful trip back out to Spain (where I sustained my life changing injury in April 2019) and back without any major drama. Hurrah. Not quite as epic as Bilbo …
This blog entry contains strong language, references of a sexual and religious nature that some readers may find upsetting. If you are of a sensitive disposition you may prefer to stop reading here. I read George Orwell’s 1984 in my early teens, when the year itself really did seem quite remote. To be honest, for …
I am long overdue an update. Apologies. Listening to the radio a few weeks ago I heard a geeky discussion about the future of artificial intelligence. The “expert” speculated that, within the next hundred years, AI would be able to simulate an experience virtually indistinguishable from real life with visual experiences, audio, smell, taste and …
I finally got around to writing my thoughts on safety for the cycle event that has left me so badly disabled. Hopefully, other riders won’t suffer quite such a catastrophic injury.*** Dear Xisco / Mallorca 312 race director, It’s now more than two years since I crashed in the 2019 edition of the Mallorca 312. …
What follows, of course, isn’t a real conversation. It’s a combination of actual conversations but mostly what goes on inside my head at 3 AM. NHS doctors really aren’t this sweary, even in Glasgow. Doctor: You are completely fucked. Me: Could you be a bit more specific? Doctor: Do you want the good news …
New toys
I think I’ve already mentioned my new four-wheel-drive wheelchair. Over the last few weeks I’ve managed to take it outside and begin to figure out what it can and cannot do without actually testing it to destruction. A few minor adaptations have been required to keep my legs secure but otherwise it’s been a great success allowing me to climb Blackford Hill, follow friends and wife over the links at Gullane and visit the zoo and city farm with my nearly – two year old grandson.
It’s nearly 2 years since I suffered a cycling accident in Spain which left me paralysed below the neck. This blog is a description of my experiences – not necessarily in chronological order and, given the circumstances, intended to be a light read. It’s the end of December since I last wrote so I think I owe you all an update.
I have not written this blog in date order. This entry aims to describe the difficult period between arriving in the spinal injuries high dependency unit (Edenhall) in Glasgow and moving – six weeks later – to the rehab unit (Phillipshill) where I was to spend another 13 months.
I arrived in Glasgow on Friday 10th May 2019, sedated for the flight from Majorca.