Here it is! Be there! I will.
Category Archives: Events
A baby.
A baby was born to a lady on this ward this week.
Since she has been in a wheelchair she’s had four kids.
I’m not sure that anybody in her family is employed, but I imagine that she’s pretty busy in more ways than the obvious one.
An excerpt from an email I just sent..
But yes, I have changed, I have turned a corner ( tho at this EXACT moment I feel a little down ) and the future looks far brighter.
Not long ago I was in shock all of the time. Every smile was false.
Now, nearly every one is for real.
Seeing people move around quickly and spontaneously would hurt me.
Now I’m accepting it more easily.
I’ve learnt that I will have to accept help all of my life, but that people give it generously, genuinely and readily.
It’s not come quickly, this brain re-wire, but Christ, it’s positive that it has.
Seeing is believing.
Watch and be amazed.
And thank you Caroline, for lunch.
And thank you to the coaches of Back Up who are gradually teaching a duffer like me to be half decent in a wheelchair.
Keep the date free!
Dan has organised, for my charity, a massive ‘white collar’ boxing night.
On the evening of March 22nd inside a large marquee at The Park Club, in Acton, there will take place 10 bouts, 9 male and 1 featuring 2 brave ladies.
None have ever fought before a packed crowd before and all will be very nervous not to ‘let down’ their friends/ family/ colleagues by coming second….
For the spectators it’ll be fascinating viewing, uncomfortable in parts but highly intriguing.
Dan himself is fighting ( obviously ) so as to lead by example.
All fighters will undertake a 10 week structured training plan, incorporating fitness, strengthening and technique, all coached by resident experts, Ali and Lee.
They’ll train WITH their opponents and there’ll be no mis-matches.
There’ll be copious food and drink, and plenty of parking spaces.
Tickets will sell fast, so get yours early.
Watch this space for further updates, but keep March 22nd free.
See you there 🙂
Pictures from my last day with legs that worked.
From Dani’s colleague. Lovely touch…
Dani,
Just wanted to say, how good it is to have you back and how it must be a really big thing for you (probably welcome in a way that the rest of us can’t imagine). I have been following Russ’s blog and it really is the most amazing and uplifting read. There is a danger that we can take family for granted in the daily rush of life and Russ is very good at reminding us all to hug the ones we love. Anyway, if there is anything I can do to help you manage your return to work over the next few months, please don’t hesitate to ask and tell Russ to keep blogging for the benefit of his wider readership! You and the girls have clearly been out of this world for him.
J
Thanks for coming.
Fantastic to see my old Uni mate, Melanie, today.
27 years later she looks exactly the same!
Me… Well, gone is the string vest and the mullet haircut, add in an aluminium wheelchair and Hey Presto… virtually unrecognisable probably.
We had a laugh though.
To think, if I’d not crashed, I’d never have seen her again.
See, it’s not all bad…
And thanks to Ina for coming and filling me in on work stuff, plus offering to help me make the transition to getting back to work and figuring out just how I’ll do my job from the confines of a wheelchair.
So very generous of her to give up her future spare time to help me.
Trust me, having someone competent and thoughtful plus lateral thinking enough is a real comfort.
Star girl!
🙂
Total ( well, partial ) Recall..
Today I saw Jeremy, a top mate and fellow cyclist from that trip in June.
He showed me lots of pictures, including the spot I’d hit the road very hard.
The Tarmac was marked with a green cross.
It was chokingly emotional to see the place where one life ended and another fought for survival.
It suddenly dawned on me that I could remember early parts of the day. What for me my mind had filed as memories of a DIFFERENT trip, suddenly were revealed as THIS trip.
I remember taking an early morning swim, retrieving my bike from the locked van, and having breakfast on a sun bathed terrace.
I’d been convinced that all that happened the year before, in Spain. Now, in a flash they were the summer of 2013.
I’ve still not watched the video taken from my own bike’s camera of my actual crash. The camera sits in the corner of my kitchen, there every time I go home at the weekend.
Will it do me any good to watch it?
Who knows.
What would you do?
Monday night in Aylesbury …
Such a laugh last night with Nick and Sophia Teasdale, who took me out to The Woolsack pub for dinner.
Actually, we went to The Chequers first, parked up, assembled the chair, got into it, wheeled the 20 feet to the front door, to discover…. They are closed on Mondays. ..
Moral of the story: open your bloody eyes maybe?!
Back in the car, up the road, great night.
In bed by 11 too.
Thanks both, felt like a ‘normal’ night out again.
Blimey, this blog’s getting a bit upbeat isn’t it?
Before long people will stop reading it….. I know you’re only in it for the teary bits..
😉
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