Sarah Orr - Breaking her neck at 16, backpacking across Australia as a wheelchair user and gaining perspective through working in developing countries

A Life Less Ordinary with Sophie Elwes

After breaking her neck at the age of 16 in a car crash whilst on holiday in the Highlands, Sarah’s life took a course that was far from ordinary.

We speak about her rehab in the spinal unit, where, thanks to some ‘tough love’ from her physio she learned to become completely independent, despite being tetraplegic. She tells me about the early days of adjustment following her injury, how difficult it was going back to school as a wheelchair user, especially having been recently selected to play hockey for Scotland prior to her injury. We speak about the challenges she faced early on and about the support she found most helpful, which came in the form of meeting others who’d gone through something similar.

She has travelled extensively, including backpacking across Australia and New Zealand for seven months, and has spent time in various developing countries working with disability organisations, to educate and inform about living with spinal cord injury, where people’s experience of living with paralysis is vastly different from in the UK.

Her spinal cord injury transferred her attention from environmental matters to human rights, which led her to do a master's degree in human rights and she has spent time working with refugees.

We speak about the challenges we face as wheelchair users, and Sarah shares the things that frustrate her in daily life. She’s a great friend of mine and is my go-to for advice about all things, not just SCI-related. She has some wise words of advice at the end which are relevant for all.