Results tagged “Back Up” from Looking Up

Spent the weekend down in Exmoor with the Back Up Trust.

Anyone who has read my book may remember the chapter about my week away with them back in 2006 and the impact it had on me at the time. With this in mind, it felt like a real right of passage to be back at the same venue at the same time of year to do the same course.

The only difference being that this time I was there as a wheelchair skills trainer, teaching people how to go up and down kerbs, negotiate threshold steps, go down steps, up stairs, and even how to fall out of your chair while playing basketball (well, someone had to, and I'm something of an expert...).

This was my first time as an instructor, and I got a tremendous amount out of the whole experience, watching the participants' confidence increasing over the course of three days. It was especially good to see the sense of achievement after we took them for an eight and a half kilometer push along a coastal path, all very up and down and filled with mud, loose stones and plenty of sunshine.

So now I am determined to continue to make my contribution, hopefully helping other people with SCI to surpass their aspirations.

Yep, zippin' up my boots, etc.

We spent a very relaxing couple of days in Norfolk over the weekend. Which is where one part of my tribe is from. All farmers and clergy, from what I can gather. Plough the fields and scatter...

Anyway, the weekend involved various adventures.

We spent a good few hours in the East Ruston Old Vicarage Gardens. The gardens evolved and spread over a number of years, creating interesting views, bewildering changes from formal to informal planting, confusing hedges and fantastic views. And all of it refreshingly uncompromised by direction signage or labeling.

Suffice to say, I got horribly lost. With R on my lap, we spent at least half an hour going around in elaborate circles. I was glad to be using the powertrike, so it was battery rather than bicep that got run down.

In my defence, we were frequently confounded by steps which prevented our escape. But still, I think the old 'Captain Compass' moniker sticks.

Our other big adventure was a trip to the beach, this time making use of the adapted remains of an old powertrike which now consists of a lightweight front wheel that serves to lift my small casters off the ground, allowing me to push over much rougher ground, and even sand. Up to a point.

Mind you, once that point has been reached, the handlebars make it easier for eager volunteers to grab a hold and yank my sorry arse out of the dunes. Over all, this simple piece of kit has turned out to be one of the most effective and satisfying wheelchair modifications to date.

Last Thursday was also something of a milestone as I delivered my first course as a Back Up wheelchair skills trainer. It felt great to be able to go back into a spinal unit and hopefully offer the kind of inspiration that I drew from my first encounter with Back Up.

Next month, I am going one step further, as I will be one of the trainers on a multi-activity week in Exmoor. As anyone who has read my book may remember, I went on this course back in 2006, and it was a really important experience that gave me the confidence to face the challenges associated with a more adventurous life on wheels.

Anyways, back to the subject of ancestry. My father found this picture of a relative from the Dutch side of the family (more farmers and clergy) by name of Jane Janes van Slooten, a merchant and sugar-refiner in Leeuwarden.
The light reading under his chubby fingers is a guide to agricultural practice rather than the Bible.
Now I know what to do when my hairline disappears over the horizon. Might even adopt a frilly cuff, too.

Spent the weekend training to be a trainer for the Back Up trust, as a part of their wheelchair skills programme. The trust sends experienced wheelchair users into all the spinal units in the U.K. to teach wheelchair skill to people who are newly injured.

While physios do an admirable job in giving people the skills that they need when thay are discharged, there are certain techniques which are best taught by an experienced wheelchair user. As well as demonstrations and guidance, there is also the invaluable experience of meeting people who have been in wheelchairs for a few years and are getting on with their lives.

When I was up at Stoke Mandeville, I found these sessions inspiring, as they helped me to start to build a picture of a life after the spinal unit. It feels like a great opportunity for me to try and pass this experince on to other people.

Back Up also provide more advanced wheelchair skills training on most of the other courses that they offer (Outdoor Multi-activity weeks, kayaking, water-skiing, sailing, handcycling, skiing, drama, etc.)

It's a funny thing, but getting more involved with Back Up feels like another milestone in my rehab. And it'll be four years since my accident next Wednesday. Fool's day, of course. I'm having an M.R.I. that day. Not by way of a celebratory trip down memory lane, just a check up.