My story
A life changed
in a moment.
Before — 01
Growing up in Harpenden
Paul had built the kind of early life most people would recognise — a wide circle of friends, a long-term girlfriend, and a trade he was proud of. He trained hard as a carpenter, worked alongside his dad, and had been driving since he was 17. Music on. Windows down. Life wide open.
In November 2012, he was 20 years old. That was about to count for everything.
The accident — 02
10 November 2012
Paul and a friend went for a late-night drive through No Man's Land, Wheathampstead. The car left the road, rolled several times, and came to rest against a tree. His friend walked away with minor injuries. Paul couldn't move.
"I remember feeling pins and needles throughout my whole body — and shouting my parents' phone number to my friend before passing out."
Emergency services cut him carefully from the wreckage and he was taken to St Mary's Hospital, Paddington. Scans confirmed a C4/C5 complete spinal cord injury. In the days that followed a chest infection took hold, his lung collapsed, and his heart stopped. The team at St Mary's saved his life a second time.
Hospitals & rehabilitation — 03
The long road at Stanmore
After six weeks in intensive care at St Mary's — multiple operations, a tracheostomy, a feeding tube — Paul was transferred on Christmas Eve to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore. He was weaned off the ventilator, learned to swallow again, and slowly regained some movement in his right arm.
The physical rebuild was arduous. But depression set in deep, and with it came a rare and life-threatening condition: superior mesenteric artery syndrome. He survived that too. He was discharged on his 21st birthday in July 2013. That same year his father suffered a severe stroke and is now also a wheelchair user. Two wheelchairs, two dogs, one small house — the family navigated it together.
New life — 04
Finding the courage to keep going
In 2014, a week in the Lake District with the Backup Trust changed everything. Surrounded by others with spinal cord injuries, Paul kayaked, sailed, swam, and camped. He came home knowing that life had not ended — it had transformed.
"This course showed me that life isn't over because I have a spinal-cord injury. It helped me find the courage to continue."
Paul now lives independently in his own flat alongside Wilson, his Canine Partners assistance dog. Wilson has given him independence, companionship, and meaningful support in managing his depression. Paul speaks regularly at schools and to local authorities about the dangers of night driving. He is also studying towards counselling qualifications — turning his lived experience into a capacity to support others.