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Living
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Majestic Sligo.
Having moved to Sligo from the hospital and leaving behind my cherished group of friends from home it was not always easy to meet people in a new area where I had not previously lived. Life isn’t easy, but it can be beautiful and during times of suffering, we see true...
Hospital trolley- numbers a cause for concern
The current state of our health system is extremely concerning. Our hospitals are under enormous pressure due to capacity issues and unsafe staffing. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) have been compiling a Trolley Watch in our hospitals around the...
Resilience.
August 2014 “By the end of rehab, I was a drop of my former self, empty from life’s cruel injustices. I had fought tooth and nail not to be shipped of to a remote residential house located 25km outside my local town with no transport, no friends or facilities there,...
Those who need help need to be heard.
Despite numerous challenges and difculties, as well as failure and opposition, my steady persistence to secure a home for myself in my old community of Castlebar has been constant. I am not alone in my struggle for self-contained living. There are countless other...
Influenza.
Influenza-This article is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as professional medical advice. As Flu activity tends to ramp up starting around now and late October, yet another virus — influenza — is upon us. Over the past two years these...
New years resolutions
Every year, millions of people make New Year’s resolutions, hoping to spark positive change in their lives. The recurring themes each year generally include a more active approach to personal and professional development. Stop smoking, start exercising, eat healthy,...
The cost of disability
Research conducted in Ireland and internationally over many years has shown that there can be significant costs of disability. These hidden reparations are the additional spending needs that people with an impairment face in their day-to-day lives that others in...
Storms create growth (eventually).
In my blogs and writing I have made a lot of references to storms. How in our lives we nearly always find ourselves either approaching a storm, in a storm or leaving a storm. This can be physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, financially, professionally....
A lack of people with disabilities working in media.
Since my life changing event I have become a strong advocate for people with disabilities in Ireland. Physical changes that occur after an SCI combined with trying to establish a new role in society means it can be tempting to compare ourselves with what we see in the...
Motherhood
Nowhere is the difference between attitudes towards able-bodied and disabled women starker than on the subject of motherhood; the big taboo. Chances are, if you use the internet then you’ve come across hateful comments and moral proselytizing towards disabled mothers....
Everyday Life
The objective of this section is to give an insight, via a series of short videos, into the day-to-day challenges somebody with a spinal injury faces. The simple and mundane tasks and chores that most people take for granted become significant challenges.
Everything has to be relearned, or new methods learned from scratch with and without the use of aids.