I too broke my back in a sporting accident some fourteen years ago and got back to my professional life and independence eventually. I am not brave, there were times when I was scared out of my wits but I put my 'I'm fine face' on for fear that others would not wish to engage with me in case they thought I would be a burden to them. In terms of the trivial things, I now ask myself, is this situation life threatening? - because I've been there and I survived and very little can be as insurmountable as paralysis. On a lighter note, my colleagues rarely complain about not feeling well because they see me turn in day in day out whatever the weather, if they do whinge, they soon stop when they realise who they're talking to. We all take life for granted, I did too but I am grateful that I can still lead a fairly independent lifestyle, but some things, as trivial as a couple of steps or people abusing accessible parking bays thwarts that. One thing that did amuse me was when I called an organisation that I was attending for an interview to see if they had level access to the building and accessible parking. When the chap finished the conversation, he asked who the information was for and I told him it was me - he said 'Oh, you don't sound disabled'. I often wonder what disabled sounds like...............
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