"The scans show a devastating injury to your spinal cord. It’s most likely a complete spinal cord injury."

On Holby City last night, long-term character Lucky's injuries were revealed to be more severe than first feared and she was diagnosed with a spinal cord injury. 

Every four hours in the UK, someone is paralysed by a spinal cord injury like Lucky’s. There’s usually no warning, no time to prepare, and no way to repair the damage that’s been done.  

As Lucky is finding out, those first days in hospital can be confusing and scary, with times of optimism and crushing lows. Understandably, after such a life-changing injury, people’s mental health can be severely affected and ensuring they receive appropriate support is vital. Family and friends will go through the same emotions – Matthew’s grandfather, John, remembers those first difficult days: 

“We went down to Wales to see him many times and we just didn't see any improvement.  It all seemed final; how on earth was he going to survive this awful injury.  I remember the family all being around the bed and then the staff would come in to do something to him and we'd all have to leave and go and sit outside.  We could see the helicopter from where we used to wait, going off to bring someone else in with another bad injury.” 

Spinal Cord Injury is life-changing and traumatic. But it’s not life-ending. Aspire provides practical support to those who have been injured, and our work starts in those earliest days when people can be desperate for information. Our website offers key information for those who are newly injured, and our staff are available to answer questions that people have. As people move on from those first days, all of our support services can be made available as we help take people from injury to independence. 

Aspire has been working with the Holby Team on this storyline for the past few months. We’ve not seen the final scripts, but we’ll be watching with interest and hoping that as Lucky’s story unfolds it gives a realistic portrayal of life with a spinal cord injury.  

Image credit: BBC 

Information for newly injured people

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