Peter’s story: The Mountain That Showed Me I Could
2 July 2025
Peter sustained a spinal cord injury at the age of 24, changing his life in an instant. This year Peter has published his memoir – sharing his journey, his achievements, the things he has learned, and the role Back Up has played in his life.
Meet Peter
- A keen traveller
- A pioneer for specialist care after spinal cord injury
- Joined one of Back Up’s first ever ski courses in Switzerland in 1988
When Peter Henry published his memoir Before, During and After, he knew exactly what he wanted it to achieve: to show people what’s possible after a spinal cord injury, and to give back to the charity that helped him find that sense of possibility. All proceeds from the book are being donated to Back Up in recognition of the support that helped shape his life after injury.
Peter was 24 when his life changed in an instant. A dive into the River Thames in 1986 caused a C5-6 spinal cord injury. “I remember every second” he says. “There wasn’t panic – it was calm. But I knew something was very wrong.”
He spent seven months in Stoke Mandeville Hospital adjusting to life with a high-level injury. Even in those early, uncertain days, Peter remembers the people who helped him through – not just family and nurses, but friends who stayed by his side. “One or two were absolute saviours” he says. “They just let me talk and I did – it all came pouring out. I was injured before the era of formal counselling. We supported each other on the ward.”
Don’t look back, look ahead. In that direction there are hopes and possibilities, not regrets.
For Peter, this resilience is captured by a famous phrase by Winston Churchill, “Never give up. Never, never, never.“
Life with a spinal cord injury
That instinct – to listen, to talk, to support, to build something better – would later drive Peter to become a pioneer in spinal cord injury care. In the early 1990s, he helped launch one of the UK’s first specialist care agencies focussed solely on supporting people with spinal cord injuries. After a period of professional change and personal loss, he co-founded ORIGIN with his friend Linda Adamsen in 2001. This was a new agency built to provide dedicated, informed care exclusively for people with spinal cord injuries.
“We started from scratch – little money, no name, no office” he says. “But we knew spinal injury care could be done better. It’s such a complex condition, you need people who really understand it.” Nearly 25 years later, ORIGIN is still going strong.
Guard your health. Without that, you have nothing.
Back Up – a constant presence
Peter’s connection with Back Up goes back even further. In 1988, just 18 months after his injury, he joined one of Back Up’s first ever ski courses in Switzerland. That trip became one of the defining moments in his recovery.
“We were gliding down the mountain on this perfect Alpine day, with blue skies and pristine snow. And suddenly it hit me like lightning: I can still do things like this.”
That moment changed everything. Back Up showed me then and there that life didn’t stop – I could still live it fully.
It’s a message Peter has carried ever since – and one that runs through his memoir. The book is a candid account of life before, during and after his injury: the early days of recovery, the lows, the learning, the love, and the journey to building a new future. “It’s not just for people with spinal injuries” Peter says. “It’s for anyone who’s gone through something life-changing. The message is that life, even if very different, can still be full, interesting, and rich.”
Back Up has remained a constant presence in Peter’s life. ORIGIN now provides personal assistants for Back Up’s outdoor courses and skiing trips, and Peter continues to advocate for greater awareness around what living independently with a spinal cord injury really looks like.
We’ve always felt close to Back Up. Back Up do things differently – dynamic, lively, fun, more practical, more empowering. That experience on the mountain all those years ago, that really stayed with me. It showed me that accidents don’t get the last word, you do.
Read Before, During and After and support Back Up
You can support Back Up by purchasing Peter’s book, “Before, During and After“. All proceeds will help ensure that more people affected by spinal cord injury can live confident, independent lives.
