A PE teacher left paralysed by a horrific car accident says she was inspired to become a top athlete – after watching the Paralympics from her hospital bed.
Melanie Woods was cycling in Inverness when a pensioner drove into her, shattering her back and pelvis and tearing the skin from her leg, which was broken in three places.
The impact also caused a spinal clot and she was told by doctors she would never walk again.
Melanie, 25, says she is determined to make her dream of representing Great Britain at the Games a reality after being moved by the bravery of others chasing medal glory.
She said: “I was impressed with what the athletes were able to achieve and admired their determination not to allow anything to stand in their way.
“I thought, ‘I’ve got to give this a go’ and immediately started thinking about every type of sport I could try.
“I used to go the gym, cycle and ride horses and keeping active was a massive part of my life. I’ve gone from being a PE teacher to being in a wheelchair. Sport has became something I can try in a different way. It motivated me to stay strong and helped get me back to some sort of normality.”
Melanie was transferred to the spinal unit at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, where she spent seven months recovering.
She was paralysed from the waist down and faced gruelling rehabilitation to learn to do every day tasks. Melanie, from Glasgow, was thrown off her bike when the car hit her in January 2018 and she landed face-down on the road.
She said: “I knew it was bad because I couldn’t feel anything from the waist down and there was no function.
“I was conscious the whole time but could see my leg was in bad way.
“Paramedics arrived and rushed me to hospital for emergency surgery and that’s when I was told the extent of my injuries. I never imagined something this serious would happen to me.”
Being in a wheelchair for the first time was also a huge challenge and she felt robbed of her independence.
Melanie said: “Knowing I’d spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair was emotional and a lot to come to terms with. Each day brought a new challenge but it gave me a goal and I was able to get my head around it.”
Melanie is focused on training full-time but the adaptive sport is costly and she needs to raise funds to be able to continue. A new racing chair would cost roughly £3500 and a pair of pushing gloves £400.
●To donate, go to uk.gofundme.com/f/melsjourney
