In just one day.

In just one day I went from being able to cycle up a hill to not being able to cycle up a hill.

In just one day I went from being able to climb a stairs to not being able to climb a stairs.

In just one day I went from being able to pick up a cup to not being able to pick up a cup.

In just one day I went from being able to walk to not being able to walk.

All of these things didn't really happen in one day, they all happened over weeks and months. I went from a healthy and happy 40 year old to a quadriplegic in seven months but I remember the days that I had to call it quits on each of the actions that I could do one day and not the next.

I went for a cycle around Brighton on a fine January day and the next day I couldn't cycle at all. I haven't ridden a bike since. I wasn't feeling well up to that point and I didn't know it could have been my last bike ride, maybe if I knew I would have gone somewhere nicer that the seafront in Brighton.

I remember trying to climb a stairs and having to use the banister to pull myself up and the side wall to balance. That wasn't long after the cycle. I kind of guessed at that stage that there was something wrong with me and it wasn't just a bit of mild fatigue. It crept up on me and I thought 'hang on, I was able to climb that stairs yesterday without using the wall and the day before that without the banister'
I think I sat in the flat and got a bit scared. I hate stairs now, and steps.

I was having breakfast with my daughter and I couldn't pick up the cup to drink my tea. Mostly I'm a coffee in the morning type of man but this was tea. I sat at the table wondering how on earth I was going to do this, so I anchored my forearm on the edge of the table and managed to get enough leverage to get the cup to my mouth. From then on I drank everything through a straw. I wish I had made a nice fresh pot of coffee that day. I do now as often as I can.

One morning early I got off the couch I had been sleeping on and just about got to my feet. I took three steps to the hallway and called out for my daughter to get out of bed.Then I hit the floor, catching my arm on a radiator on the way down and ended up on the floor wondering how I was going to get up. I had fallen a lot in the previous months and every time it got harder and harder to get up. This time I didn't get up. I couldn't stand and I couldn't walk, my legs just gave up. They'd been giving up for a long time but this time they said 'nope, not another step'.

I lay there for quite a while and wasn't really sure how to react, maybe I was in shock. All I knew for sure was that my walks in the countryside were probably well behind me.

I didn't know then what kind of profound affect all this would have on me and every day I learn a bit more. I can walk a little bit now and pick up a mug of coffee and just about manage a stairs, but every thing I do I try to savour the moment because I never know if I'll be able to do it again.