Jack is 24 and was injured in a cycling accident in the French Alps in July 2016. He was eventually taken to the Spinal Injury Centre in Salisbury where he stayed for nine months. Whilst there, Roy, one of Aspire's Independent Living Advisors, spoke to Jack, who says, "I got on well with him straight away. He is really easy to talk to and just as happy to have a general chat as he was to talk about something I specifically wanted to know."

Very often, patients can get lonely and feel isolated on the ward, especially while on bed rest. Jack says, "I was very lucky on the ward as I made a lot of friends very early on, so loneliness was never an issue for me. However, seeing someone like Roy living comfortably years after sustaining a spinal cord injury really helped, especially in the early days when returning to a 'normal' life seemed totally out of reach.  Jack found that drawing from other spinal injured people's experiences, like Roy's, has been much more inspiring than anything he was taught in hospital in regards to becoming independent. "It's an amazing service that Aspire offers."

Independent Living

Personal Stories

How we help