An avid athlete and show jumper, it didn’t take Kylie long to transition into a Paralympian after a 2006 diving accident left her paralysed at C5/6 level. In 2009, only three years after her injury, she cycled 450km from Vietnam to Cambodia in order to raise money for charity, and by 2011 she was having … Read more
Brandon is a former gymnast from Cape Town, South Africa, who was involved in a training accident in 2012, when he was just 16 years old, which resulted in him suffering a C6/7 spinal cord injury. He very quickly transitioned from gymnastics to para-athletics, and within a few short years he was competing in everything … Read more
With the Tokyo Paralympic start date now delayed until August 2021, a full year after they were originally slated to begin, we thought it would be a good idea to launch what we hope will be a series of articles focusing on a handful of athletes who are vying for spots on their country’s Paralympic … Read more
“This is where Active Hands changed my life. The whole body can be worked confidently: the pectorals, arms, shoulders, back… I have access to machines safely. I can use dumbells, do pull-ups, the cable machine… and I know that I have other possibilities too.” 55 year old Stéphane lives in a small town in the … Read more
For many of us, the summer months are arriving and this year, time outside seems even more vital than normal. Whether we’re getting into gardening, meeting up with friends or just enjoying going for a walk and getting some fresh air, the warmer weather is certainly making us smile. This week our team have been … Read more
We have recently been in contact with Helen, a young lady from South Wales, whose life was turned upside down when a rare condition suddenly, and without warning, left her paralysed. She spoke honestly and openly to us about her initial feelings of despair, how she turned these feelings around, and how her positivity (along … Read more
Eight weeks into lockdown here in the UK and life seems to be settling into a bit of a routine. In some ways, I have been trying to recreate things I’d normally be doing in the outside world using new technology… work, training, catching up with friends. At other times, I’ve been discovering the benefits of slowing down, staying … Read more
It seems positively ironic that in my previous entry I’d spoken about how uncomfortable I felt accepting help off strangers, and now it’s illegal to be within 2 metres of any of them… The moral of the story is be careful what you wish for!!
We won’t pretend to be mental health experts, but we do have minds of our own and we’re feeling the pressure of the current situation too. We hope that the ideas in this article might go some way to helping you through this bizarre time. If you have any tips we’d love to hear them … Read more
A big thank you to Tess for sharing her journey with *suspected* COVID-19 with us. Tess is a C6/7 Incomplete Tetra with Tracheostomy. We’re glad you’re feeling better. Over to Tess… I came into contact with someone who had just seen someone with a case of Covid-19 on 10/3/2020, and although this individual didn’t have … Read more
