Cath’s story: Giving support to others

3 December 2024

At Back Up, we keep volunteers at our heart. We were founded by volunteers, and to this day they are still essential in providing our life-changing services. That’s why we recently celebrated our volunteers at our annual Back Up Ball, with our 2024 awards ceremony.

One of these award winners was Cath, who took home our Family Volunteer of the Year award. Over the past year Cath has worked tirelessly to help deliver our services for family members of people with a spinal cord injury – ensuring that others in a similar situation to her can get back to living life to the full after a family member sustains a spinal cord injury.

In 2017, Cath’s son Pete had his life changed in an instant – he was involved in a mountain biking accident, resulting in a high-level complete spinal cord injury. In the blink of an eye Pete’s spinal cord was severed, and he was permanently paralysed from the neck down. The shock of this rippled through the rest of the family.

“The early days were difficult – there’s no other word for it. It’s hard for everyone involved. We had a lot of help from the occupational therapy teams at the hospital, but we were still worried about what would happen next.

“How was Pete going to return to living independently with a high-level spinal cord injury? We had no idea what his life would be like. It was a very traumatic time.”

By the time Pete was ready to leave hospital, there were fresh challenges that needed to be tackled. Sorting out care and housing can be overwhelming for families affected by spinal cord injury, but it can be even harder when family members live in different parts of the country – with Pete in Edinburgh, and the rest of the family from the West Midlands.

“As a mum, my instinct was to be with him and try to help wherever possible, so it was hard to have to step back and let the medical professionals do what they need to do. Living such a long way away meant that we had a lot of phone calls, but it’s amazing what listening can do.”

For Cath, one of the biggest challenges was during the Covid-19 pandemic. With lockdown in place, the family was unable to travel up to see Pete at all. Fortunately, Cath found a lifeline through our services – joining our fortnightly Back Up Lounge to speak with others in a similar situation.

“The Back Up Lounge gave me a place where I could be listened to, and I could get some words of advice or empathy in return.

“It was a coping mechanism for me in those difficult times, one that helped me manage much more easily while I couldn’t be with Pete.”

After finding a place in our welcoming community, Cath decided to give something back.

“I decided to volunteer as a Back Up mentor, to give my time to support family members in similar situations. As a mentor, a lot of what I do is just providing a listening ear. I’m able to listen to the struggles faced by other family members and share suggestions.

“Everyone’s experience is different, but just by sharing what you’ve learned you can help others find answers to the questions they find themselves asking after spinal cord injury.”

In the past year, Cath has been volunteering tirelessly to help deliver our vital services. As well as mentoring, Cath has supported us on our What Next? Course. Here she has been able to give her knowledge to others in a similar situation, wherever they are based in the UK. She has also supported us at relative’s days, giving in-person support at spinal centers and hospitals around the country.

On winning our Family Volunteer award Cath said it was a surprise – but she is proud of her achievements being recognised.

“It was quite emotional winning the Family Volunteer of the Year award at the Back Up Ball this year. It’s good to be acknowledged as a volunteer – I really appreciate it! Thank you.”

Get in touch if you’re interested in volunteering with Back Up and giving support to others in a similar situation after spinal cord injury.