The Fall

I jumped over a wall thinking that there was a road at the same level on the other side.

Well, there was a road, but it was actually an underpass and instead of landing on a road surface a few feet below the height of my jump, I landed about 28 feet below on a tarmac road.

I didn’t remember much at the time, apart from a friend leaning against my leg trying to help which caused immense pain as the leg was literally smashed to pieces.

The next thing I recall was waking up looking at an unfamiliar ceiling and I thought to get up to have a look where I was but a woman sternly pushed me back down onto the bed before I had chance move my shoulder blades off the bed.

I was obviously very confused at the time and asked the nurse what the problem was and she told me that I had broken my leg and my back and if I moved a nerve could be cut and I could lose control over my legs.

When I later saw my main consultant I asked him “what now”. He told me that I had two options:

1) They operate on my back to try to fix it and if they slip up then a nerve could be cut and I could lose my legs.

2) I lie on my back for about 2 months without twisting, turning or leaning up and it will fix itself.

Without much thought, I took the latter option and spent 2 months on my back doing everything!

My leg was scaffolded to hold it together and once it was together it was put in plaster to heal and when the plaster was taken off, I found that I has lost my ankle as it had fused and there was no movement in it.

With the aid of crutches, will power and support from my friends and family, it took me about 2 years to literally get back on my feet.

And then I started to rebuild a life for myself.