Sam’s story – volunteers at our heart

11 September 2024

I broke my neck diving into shallow water when I was 19. I damaged my spinal cord at the C4 level and I am unable to walk or use my hands. Living with my injury has been very difficult, and I’ve gone through some tough times. However, going through all this has left me with a positive mindset seven years later.

Although there were plenty of dark moments, I’m lucky to have some lovely people surrounding me and helping me get through it – including Back Up.

I first met Back Up in hospital. A volunteer from the charity was chatting with people on the wards. He had a high level injury himself, but he was just getting on with things. It made me realise there was life after spinal cord injury. I felt like everything had been taken away from me so this was exactly what I needed to hear.

When I came out of hospital, I joined the Back Up ski karting course in Sweden. It was so amazing to travel the world again, and the freedom of being on the slopes was fantastic. It was something I didn’t think would be possible after I sustained my injury.

I  had such a great time on the Back Up course that I wanted to give something back. As humans we need a good purpose in life, and volunteering with Back Up has given me that.

In the past year, I’ve volunteered a lot with Back Up. I teach power chair skills all around the country, in spinal cord injury centres like Stoke Mandeville and Stanmore. I’ve also taught at Cardiff – which was great, because I’ve never supported people in Wales before with power chair skills training in a hospital setting.

It’s really rewarding. It’s not just teaching people how to use their chair in a safe environment, but it’s also about combating the isolation newly injured people experience. Just like when I was in hospital, people want to hear that life carries on after injury.

Outside of volunteering, recently I’ve been busy making art and selling prints. I do mouth paintings, some of which I do for charity. I’m also building a custom camper van – which has been a dream since before my injury. As well as hiring it out for my business, Wheeleasy Camping, I’m planning on travelling Europe and the UK – hopefully finding a bit of sunshine where I go!

Learn how Back Up’s services are supporting more people than ever before:

Read our 2023/24 impact report