Helping Hands: Looking back to an emotional rollercoaster by Lisa Watkiss

When I was 17 and studying for my A Levels  my then boyfriend Dave was involved in an accident where his car broke down on a Motorway on his way to visit friends in Bristol.  He was underneath the car at the side of the road trying to fix it when a lorry clipped the car and dragged him along underneath it for quite a distance before the driver realized what had happened.

During an initial period of paralysis he remained at Frenchay hospital in Bristol, but then when things started to look a little more hopeful he was transferred to the Spinal Injuries Unit at a specialist spinal hospital in Oswestry. He then spent the next 8 months bed-ridden on the same ward and I spent the time travelling to and from Oswestry failing my A levels.

For him those months involved lots of operations, physio and being prodded by all sorts of consultants and specialists.

For me and those close to him what was more noticeable was the change in his personality as a result of what had happened to him.

People not close to the person may see  the physical changes that have taken place, but those close see the  emotional changes too.  Being told you might not walk again is probably one of the hardest things to hear, and it can have a dramatic effect on the way you view life.

Dave became very frustrated and angry with everyone, including himself for what he’d allowed to happen.  Being so young I struggled to cope with his constant mood swings and his anger with everything and everyone and our relationship didn’t survive very long after he came home.

The story does have a happy ending though. Dave returned home from Oswestry and for some time set up a bedroom in his parents’ dining room. Through the dedication and support of carers visiting him at home and his physio’s persistence, Dave did regain his mobility and learnt to walk again.

Despite having several bits of metal in his body he has led a pretty normal life, but like the majority of those effected by such a traumatic experience his out look on life was changed dramatically as a result.