Becoming an SIA support coordinator

14 months ago today, after waiting for what felt like an eternity for my MRI results, I received the news I was dreading to hear. My spine was broken. I had sustained a T10 to L2 spinal cord injury after a biking accident whilst working in Aberdeen.

I was lost, hopeless and I thought my life was ruined. I was wheeled off for an 8-hour surgery and the week that followed was a blur.

A few weeks after my surgery, I was told I had an hour’s session booked in with Andy Wharton – a support coordinator for the SIA. I didn’t know what to expect so brought my girlfriend Lauren along with me.

We sat down with Andy and the hour seemed to fly by. Andy was able to answer all the questions I had – I wouldn’t have felt comfortable asking someone who didn’t have that valuable lived experience.

Andy referred me to some extremely useful services which are still making my life easier today and he filled me with hope that I was still able to live a fulfilled life post injury.

That one conversation with Andy changed my whole perspective on my future and lifted both mine and Lauren’s outlook on the whole situation dramatically. I have since regained the ability to walk using a stick, but I still use a wheelchair for longer distances.

Today I celebrate one month of working as a support coordinator for SIA! This past month has been jam packed with meeting the team, learning, getting to know our wonderful trusted partners and starting to give the service I received to newly injured people in hospitals across the region.

I have also been lucky enough to be invited to some incredible networking and fundraising events such as the rebuilding lives conference in Milton Keynes and the SIA charity polo event.

I want to thank everyone who I have had the chance to meet so far and hope to meet many more of you over the coming months!

Written by Joe Steele – SIA support coordinator in the North East of England.