Back in January 2022 I suffered a spinal stroke for reasons unknown. Unlike a cerebral stroke, a spinal stroke disrupts the blood supply to the spine. Basically, everything directly below the site of the stroke is affected and you can experience either weakness or complete paralysis in your lower limb. On top of that and arguably worse is the impact it can have on your bladder and bowel function, accompanied with partial or complete loss of sensation below the level of injury. Personally, my stroke was identified at T6 level, so effectively everything below my chest was affected leaving me unable to walk or feel anything below that area.

Fortunately, over the past two and a half years I have been able to rehabilitate to a high level of physical function, albeit still have to contend with the invisible aspects of the injury on a daily basis. On the other hand, for many individuals, the damage of a spinal cord injury is irreversible which can have life changing consequences such as permanent immobility, loss of sexual function, chronic pain, respiratory issues let alone the impact it has on mental health.

With that being said, my goal is to try and raise some money and increase awareness for charities that support those affected by a spinal cord injury. In particular I am looking to raise money for Spinal Injuries Scotland, a charity who offer insight, peer support, advice and emotional support from someone who has gone through similar changes due to injury.

My initial goal at the start of my recovery was to climb one munro (hill over 914m), however now with that in the bag I’ve decided to push the boundaries a bit and attempt the trek from Kathmandu to Everest Base Camp in Nepal for charity. Everest Base Camp sits 5365 meters (17,598 feet) above sea level. The trek takes between 12-14 days and it’s about 130km in total. This should be a significant challenge for me especially at altitude, whilst also considering the fact we’ve decided to go for it on the 29th December 2024 when it’s going to be absolutely Baltic.

I appreciate everyone’s skint these days but any support for the charity would go a long way.

Cheers

Camy