Walk Again > My Story

Charlotte Smith - My Story

Charlotte Smith and Harvey in 2006

Hi, my name is Charlotte. On 11th September 2004 I broke my neck in a bouncy castle accident. It has left me wheelchair bound and unable to use my fingers. This is my story.

The Accident [Top]

I broke my neck at a cousins birthday party. When it happened I knew instantly that I had damaged my neck as I could not feel or move my body at all. Luckily everyone knew not to move me and an ambulance was called immediately.

I'm not sure how long the ambulance took but it felt like forever, most of my family were there and when the ambulance arrived they had to support the bouncy castle so that I could be removed from it whilst keeping my neck as still as possible. I was transported first to the nearest Accident and Emergency unit in Guilford.

My Diagnosis [Top]

The doctors there were optimistic and suspected that I hadn't done too much damage. Later that night I was taken to the National Spinal injuries center at Stoke Manderville Hospital, where after several more detailed scans and examinations it became clear that the damage was more extensive than first and I was told that wheelchair existence was a possibility. I had damaged my spinal cord, it wasn't clear to what extent initially, but after three months with only a small amount of improvement the doctors said that I would never walk again, the accident had left me paralysed from the sholders down.

Homeless For Two Years [Top]

Due to housing issues I ended up spending over a year in hospital, and another year stuck in an old people's/mentally handicapped home.

I suffered from depression, extreme anxiety and insomnia as a result of the shock of my accident and other events that I witnessed wilst in hospital. My family were great, my mum Bridget and my boyfriend Gordon took it in turns to visit me so I had someone with me every day. My family have never given up hope that I will walk again they have been extremely supportive and helped to keep me feeling positive about my recovery.

I met a lot of people whilst in hospital who had broken their back or neck, and I also saw a lot of people make a recovery far beyond what the doctors had predicted. I had also made some recovery after being told that I wouldn't make any more, I had regained a significant amount of sensation throughout my body and could detect a slight pulling feeling in the left side of my lower back. As my health improved I got stronger and more and more positive.

The old people's home was officially a "care home", but since all the old peoples homes have been closed down, there were no mentally stable residents; only old people or those suffereing from a brain injury of some sort. There was no-one for me to talk to apart from some of the staff. The physio staff in particular were very helpful and made my time there alot easier.

My Rehabilitation & Physiotherapy [Top]

Understandably, I always keep up to date with the latest research on spinal cord injury and treatments being developed to treat it. In 2005 I came across some information about a clinic that clamed they could help people recover from paralysis.

We obtained a video recording of a documentary called "Miracle Steps" which was shot for the Discovery Channel. The documentary was about a girl called Gemma whom had been left completely paralysed after a car accident when she was very young. After being paralysed for 10 years with no recovery she saught help from The Mind Clinic.

Gemma underwent treatment from Hratch Orgali and made a very impressive amount of recovery. She could move limbs below her level of injury and could feel pain again for the first time in 10 years and her legs were strong enough to peddle a bike.

After watching the documentary I decided to book an appointment at The Mind Clinic. After just one session with Hratch for the first time I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. It was so nice to talk to someone who firmly believed I could recover. Hratch told me that if I worked really hard I could walk again. I started attending sessions at the Mind Clinic once a week for two hours. Hratch has been teaching me how to physically and mentally reconnect my mind to my body, he taught me a form of meditation he calls mind work which I do every day along with lots of physical exercises to stimulate recovery.

Before I started attending the clinic I had been suffering extreme anxiety and panic attacs after witnessing a woman nearly die in the bed next to me, I hadn't been able to sleep properly for months. I do not think I will ever forget that experience. Haratch helped me get through this tough time, he helped me to control my anxiety and feel confident again, he made me focus on my recovery and not on the past, he told me to forget all the bad things that had happened to me, all that mattered now was getting better.

Three Years On [Top]

I am now living with my mum and my sister (and my new dog Kye) in Woking, Surrey. I has been adapted for me, with a new bathroom, celing hoist and a layout that suits my wheelchair use. I was also bought a great adjustable bed with memory-foam matress. It also vibrates to help my circulation.

I have also been given an electric wheelchair which means that I can now take Kye and Cassie (my sisters dog) for walks every day. More importantly, it also means that I have been able to restart my main hobby; dog agility. For those of you that don't know what that is - it is like show jumping, but with dogs. A bit like crufts.

I've been on holiday with my boyfriend Gordon thanks to fund-raising, and visited my Gran in Scotland, who I hadn't been able to see since before the accident.

My Art and Graphic Design [Top]

Before my accident, I had been to university to study Graphic Design, and had worked as a graphic designer for a few companies in Surrey.

As a result of my passion, I have spent alot of my spare time painting and drawing. I decided to try and sell my art, and with some help from my friends and family, have got a range of dog agility tshirts, faerie tshirts, horse tshirts and a range of christmas cards which are now available to buy online.

Fund Raising [Top]

Being in a wheelchair does mean that alot of things are nearly impossible without the help of fund raising. Without the help of friends, family and strangers, I would not be doing dog agility, I would not have been able to go on holiday and I would not have had any form of transport. As much as it pains me to ask (as I don't normally do) your help improves my life in ways that you take for granted. The best way for you to help me is to buy something from my shop. If you really don't want to and still want to help, you can sent me a donation online (through paypal) with a debit or credit cards, or send me a cheque. for more details, please see my donation information page.