Your search for “Spinal”

What inspired you to volunteer as a buddy on Back Up’s Moving forwards course? I was a Physiotherapist working in a hospital in Brisbane. A ‘quarter-life crisis’ caused me to quit my job and travel to the UK for three months. I didn’t want the trip to be entirely selfish so I looked into volunteering […]

I first got involved with Back Up when I was at Oswestry spinal injury unit. They told me about the charity and the different courses they do, including the under 13s course. I ended up going on that course and absolutely loved it. I’ve been involved with Back up ever since! The work of the […]

It was back in 1998 when I fell from the balcony of my apartment in the Austrian Alps. I was 23 years old and only 2 days into a long-awaited snowboarding trip. It was all so confusing: the ambulance, the local hospital, the transfer to Innsbruck in the middle of the night. Then suddenly there […]

As I reflect on the past year at Back Up, I feel so very proud of all we’ve managed to achieve in 2016. Our commitment to reach everyone affected by spinal cord injury has pushed us to expand our services again this year. A real highlight has been the introduction of our Next Steps course […]

As we come to the end of 2016, we’d like to share some of the stories from our fantastic community fundraising team. Click here to get involved in 2017! Mike Wigney: London to Paris bike ride How did you get involved with Back Up? I heard about Back Up during my rehabilitation at Stoke Mandeville. Six years […]

‘The first time I rang all I did was cry. I guess that was me accepting that I can’t do this on my own and I need help from people who’ve been through this too.’ In August 2015, Amanda’s son, Ben, was climbing a tree when a branch broke and he fell twenty feet landing […]

In 1990 I was studying Hospitality Management in Edinburgh. Over the Christmas holidays I visited the highlands to celebrate Hogmanay and I was involved in a car accident. I broke my back at the T6 – T8 level and was left paralysed from just below the chest downwards. It seems like such a long time […]

A pressure ulcer or sore is an injury to the skin and the tissue just underneath it. If you sit or lie in the same position for several hours, the pressure may cut off the blood flow to that area. This can starve the tissue of oxygen, causing it to die and a pressure ulcer […]

Mike Nemesvary, our founder, set up Back Up in 1986 after his spinal cord injury. Mike who joined us recently from Canada to celebrate our 30th anniversary, tells us about the early days and what makes him most proud. Tell us about your life before your spinal cord injury My life was sports, sports and […]

In December 2012, Geoff was at home when he suddenly blacked out. The last thing he remembered was hitting the floor before he woke up two weeks later in the intensive care unit. The cause of his blackout was a stroke which left him paralysed from the waist down. It was a difficult time for […]