I was very active. I had a couple of horses that I did show jumping on. I had taken early retirement, so I was enjoying riding every day and competing as and when I wanted to. I was show jumping the day before my accident. 

The day of my accident was the day before my 60th birthday. I decided to take the older, retired horse for a little hack, but he stumbled and fired me headfirst straight into the ground. I think I was knocked unconscious and when I came to, I was lying face down on the gravel. I couldn’t move a thing. I broke my neck in two places and my spinal cord is damaged at C4. 

I was in Addenbrookes Hospital before the Sheffield Spinal Injury Centre, but we live in Cambridgeshire. My husband would get on the bus and visit me every day. Afterwards he’d have to see to the horses and make phone calls etc. He has always been so supportive, and he was dedicated to seeing me every week whilst I was in Sheffield Spinal Injury Centre, despite how difficult it was to juggle everything. By the end of my six weeks in Addenbrookes he was exhausted. When I came home from Sheffield I had carers for six weeks but they were dreadful, so he took over as my full time carer. We got married in 2024, on the anniversary of my accident. We thought it would be a good change for that date; it takes away some of the trauma. 

When I was in Sheffield I found out about Aspire, SIA and Back Up. I’ve used all three organisations for different aspects of support, and it’s been marvellous.  When it came to my Personal Independence Review (PIP) review form, we really didn’t know what to do, as my injury level means I can’t write and it seemed so complicated. In our local SIA community group someone said that I should try Aspire, so I sent an email and Aspire's Welfare Benefits Advice team got in contact. It went from there. Colleen and Michelle were fantastic, and the form was completed and submitted without any trouble. 

Their help and advice was 100% invaluable. It was a hugely stressful form, but it was comforting to know that I had professional people helping me. I would definitely use the service again. It’s that famous old saying “you don’t know what you don’t know”. People need access to all these sorts of services to find out the things that you need to know and do to make life easier. 

The fact that the service is free of charge makes the world of difference, too. If we had to pay, we would have explored every other free possibility first and wouldn’t necessarily have spoken to someone with the expertise in spinal cord injury. 

If we hadn’t had support from Aspire, it would have been hugely stressful. It was such a worry because the PIP money is so valuable and helps me pay for things that make my life as best as it can be. If I hadn’t known how to get the best result, funding things like private physio would be very difficult.  

The PIP payments help me pay for a gardener, window and house cleaner. We’d struggle to cope with these tasks on our own. It also allows me to have private physio and buy equipment. I’ve been able to buy a rollator and a reaching stick/tool (litter grabber). All these things help me maintain a level of independence which I’m very grateful for. 

Welfare Benefits Advice

Personal stories

How we help