Coping with Disability

I have been confined to a wheelchair for over 30 years and I am deeply concerned about the latest controversial storyline of the hit soap ‘Emmerdale’, which sees twenty something tetraplegia Jackson Walsh kill himself with the help of his mother and gay lover. This to me gives out a very bad impression. I know of several people with similar injuries to those sustained by the ‘Emmerdale’ character and these people are very much getting on with life. People are very resilient with good rehabilitation and family support. Some are involved in Wheelchair Basketball; others are involved in Wheelchair Rugby. My own favourite sport since I resigned from marathon races is Self Defence. I’d be worried if the public was left with the perception that this is how everybody deals with such an injury. Ultimately this story is about Jackson’s personal situation and feelings and not about tetraplegia itself. There’s actually no correlation between the severity of an injury and a person’s psychological response to it. We’re all different psychologically. Sometimes those with more severe injuries will be completely down and depressed. Sometimes a person with partial loss of their legs can become very down. People may feel very down and depressed when they realise what is happening initially but with support and rehabilitation programme their mood improves. The vast majority of people who live with spinal cord injury simply do not envisage suicide as an answer. To some extent I understand where Jackson’s coming from. I can understand someone thinking that there is life out there and it can be very fulfilling.

Yours Sincerely,

Tom Chambers

Disability Campaigner

Newport