ABOUT WALK AGAIN
Walk Again is a fledgling charity dedicated to assisting people with spinal cord injury in England, in the first year post injury with a chance of regaining walking function. We provide coaching, mentoring, and emotional support from spinal cord injury survivors and their partners/families. Our goal is to fund physiotherapy to give purpose to individuals as they transition from hospital to life at home.
How it started
In September 2022 I was knocked off my bike by a car whilst riding in Huddersfield. From that moment on my life changed forever. I went from being a strong, super fit husband, farmer and sportsman to something else entirely. I woke up a couple of days later to find my wife and parents by my bedside and they told me my neck was broken in three places and I had completely crushed my spinal cord. The surgeon described me as decapitated as there was only soft tissue connecting my head to my body.
After many months of pain, suffering, humiliation and exhaustion I learned what it meant to be an incomplete tetraplegic (C6/7). The observable lack of mobility is just the tip of the iceberg, the pain, lack of or altered sensation, urinary incontinence, bowel incontinence, lack of hand function, loss of sexual function and the overwhelming terror and grief of what I'd lost were all hidden under the surface.
I spent a total of four months in hospital, 3 of which were at Pinderfields Spinal Unit and met some brilliant staff and patients. I was given plenty of physiotherapy until my discharge date.
Why Walk Again is needed
But then.......Nothing. I still had 2 months remaining of the 6 month 'golden window' of recovery and a further 6 months of fast recovery to take me up to the 12 month point where recovery plateaus for most people. NHS community physios were a 3 month wait in my area and it is a total postcode lottery for patients in England.
Coming home with a spinal injury is physically and mentally difficult and really frightening with no experts on hand to help if things go wrong. I was in the fortunate position that I could book private physio instantly. I needed to feel like I was making progress and physio gave me this focus and kept me sane in the months after leaving hospital. Physiotherapy gave me a physical outlet for the fear, grief and terror and a really positive and constructive focus for my recovery.
It struck me that without physiotherapy in months 5-12 post injury I'd have struggled to carry on and would probably be in a wheelchair for life. Unfortunately patients I spent time in hospital with were in this exact position, waiting for overstretched NHS physiotherapy to come months down the line. The gap needs to be plugged urgently to give people every chance to walk again.
Although being able to walk again doesn't magically fix everything that comes with a spinal cord injury; it is still super important. Weight bearing is essential for maintaining bone density. Being able to stand and move from one place to another (even just from a chair to a chair) means that a person can get into a normal car, get into the shower unaided, get onto the toilet unaided and generally live a more independent life.
OUR PARTNERS
Moving forward we aspire to collaborate with excellent physiotherapists to provide structured rehabilitation to people with spinal cord injury. Once we have achieved registered charity status we will look to partner with organisations who can help us grow and help more people with spinal cord injury. As we move forward you'll find details of our partners here.
OUR TEAM
Andy Martin
Founder and tetraplegic SCI survivor. Andy has experienced the trials and tribulations of traumatic injury, surgery, intensive care, NHS wards, NHS rehabilitation, private rehabilitation techniques and much more. He has also experienced the utter loss that an SCI can bring and most importantly how to find meaning in life again after SCI.
Amy Martin
Founder and wife of an SCI survivor. Amy has lived through what it's like to have a loved one endure an SCI. Amy has an unparalleled insight into the pitfalls, remedies and imperatives associated with having a loved one in NHS care. Amy has learned through experience how to work with care providers to achieve excellent recovery outcomes.
TBC
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