For anyone who may not know me...I'm Nikki Rodwell and I fractured my T12 vertebrae last year and damaged my spinal cord. My vertebrae was stabilised with rods and pins and like any bone it can regenerate and with time can heal. However the spinal cord cannot. Far more complex with its multitude of nerve endings delivering messages from the brainstem to every part of your body. Despite being told I may never walk again and be doubly incontinent I have had a 'miraculous' recovery whereby I am able to walk and carry out a fully independent life albeit a little slower and with a little added discomfort & fatigue. I have in fact reached the point where I feel I can safely return my wheelchair to 'wheelchair services'.

So let me tell you about Danny.

I met Danny last year when I was in Sheffield Spinal Unit after 7 weeks of being in the N&N on complete flat bed rest . He may not know this but he was the first friendly face to come into my room in his wheelchair and reassure me that being hoisted into my wheelchair the next day would not be so bad, and advised me to drink lots of water to stop myself feeling dizzy! Really lovely being I was so far from home and feeling very scared! He was also the first person I felt brave enough to share the details of how my accident had happened which was a milestone for me.

Just 4 weeks later I was walking (very tentatively) with a frame into his room to say goodbye! Not realising that he would be staying in hospital for another 6 months!!

So Dan may be young enough to be my son .. but we are mates. Bonded by our tragic accidents that both happened in July 2019 within a week of each other and the impact on our lives and the journey that it has taken us on over the last year. I am grateful every day for the amazing recovery that I have made and whilst I know it's impossible to make a 100% recovery from a spinal cord injury I am on the very high end of recovery success scale enabling me to carry out the challenge I am setting myself for this cause.

Dan by contrast, is paralysed from the chest down and lifting himself out of the wheelchair into a bed/armchair etc is a massive step for him. I have been amazed at how he has got through so many setbacks and huge difficulties over the months whilst I've been going from strength to strength getting back to normality and achieving milestones in my recovery. He has suffered constant UTI's, septicaemia, autonomic dysreflexia, skin sores.... to name just a few. As if his struggles to get well enough to be discharged from hospital weren't enough... he was told that when he did finally leave it wouldn't be to his familiar home but to a new adapted flat as his home was no longer suitable for a wheelchair! I hated to think of this knowing how difficult I found it when I first got home, but then then I had Martin and 2 dogs there for me! Danny was still getting over his break-up from the previous year and the huge void of missing his son day and night. When the momentous day finally came and Danny was finally discharged..... blow me down we were put into lockdown 2 days later so friends and family couldn't even visit him... just his daily carers for company and another infection causing him great pain.

We keep in regular touch. by phone and messages and I'm looking forward to visiting him for the first time next week. Dan says I'm an inspiration to him, and he has been so supportive of my amazing recovery which must be tough for him to watch at times! 'There by the Grace of God go I' as my Dad always used to say. Dan reminds me every day of what could have been for me and what may have been a very different outcome. Staying friends with Danny reminds me every day of how far I've come and to appreciate the small things in life as a consequence. I feel his pain at times and yes I feel guilty that I can walk and he can't. But we support each other and understand the nature of what some of the difficulties are with SCI. I have a blog which I wrote about my hospital experience last year and detail of my accident. www.liveyourbestlife.site

So here's the thing... I want to do something to help this guy and give him something to look forward to. He really does deserve a break and I want to do something that could make a difference. Danny's saving grace is his little boy whom he loves with a passion and he has been his driving force through some very dark times. Dan's whole purpose to keep fighting is for his little boy. whom he will be able to see more regularly now we are starting to come out of lockdown. He told me how much it would mean to him to have outings and trips to the zoo with his boy, and this would be so much easier and able to happen if Dan has a motorised attachment for his wheelchair. You see, Dan broke both of his arms in his accident and they have had a lot of surgery and metal plates put in, meaning his arms tire with pushing himself around. The attachment (shown in photo) would give Dan the option of his normal chair for at home but then being motorised for trips out.

These accessories start from around £2k for a second hand one. Every penny is going to help and I feel rather than raising directly for the SCI Association or Back Up Charities (who are amazing and have given great support to me over this past year) It will be so great to donate money directly to somebody I actually know with a severe spinal cord injury and see the difference it will make to their lives.

So what am I going to do to deserve you putting your hand in your pockets? Well it won't be a skydive or running a marathon I'm afraid!! The furthest I have managed to walk to date is around 2.5k so I am going to double that and do a 5K walk (which scares me). Apart from a short sit on a bench mid walk (if Martin lets me!) I will do this in one go and think it will take around 1hr 45 going by my current ability. I would like to do this by my accident anniversary which is July 19th.... but my deadline will be the end of July in case Im not ready by then! Every £1 you can donate will mean so much to me (and Dan) and being it's my birthday on 29th June would be the best present I could possibly have!