Rob’s story: Achieving your goals after spinal cord injury

26 September 2025

Meet Rob:

When I was 19, I had an incredible year travelling around Fiji, Australia and New Zealand, combining my passion for rugby and travel. On my return, I was excited for new adventures at university. But then everything changed overnight. I was involved in a car crash and sustained a C3 complete spinal cord injury. I have no movement or sensation from my shoulders down and need a ventilator to breathe. 

From travelling the world on my own, I was back living with my family. Suddenly, our peaceful family home was a building site while an extension was built for me. Our living room became my bedroom, and there was a steady stream of personal assistants coming and going. I felt a big loss of freedom and independence. We all found it really tough.  

But then I met a Back Up volunteer. It was amazing just to talk to someone who had a similar injury to me and understood what I was going through. For the first time since the accident, I could see that living well with a high-level spinal cord injury was possible. The team helped me build my resilience, skills and knowledge.  

It’s been over a decade since my injury and life couldn’t be better. I’ve achieved my ambition of becoming a lawyer, I still travel the world, and I’m a Back Up volunteer!  

My confidence continues to grow over the years. I’ve learned a huge amount about managing a care team, so I can live more independently. Clear communication is key – everything will go much more smoothly when your support team knows what you expect and need.  

I love being part of the Back Up Connect service. It’s all about answering those one-off questions people have after spinal cord injury. I offer practical advice on things like travel and care, and recommend other Back Up services that might help, like mentoring.  

I also took part in Back Up and Thriving: Accessible Travel and Transport Toolkit. It includes helpful videos, a brilliant podcast and aims to show people that travelling confidently after a spinal cord injury is possible. I love travelling, and it’s been incredibly rewarding sharing my experiences to help others. I know I would have really benefitted from these resources when I was first injured.

View Rob’s story in our 2024/25 Impact Report.