Padi Diving Society

The art of survival

I was dumbfounded. For the first time in years, I didn’t need my crutches. I didn’t need my carer. I was floating in this lovely warm water and the pain had just dissipated. We were on holiday in the Maldives – and it was the closest I had come to feeling what life was like before the accident.

I was 21 when the crash happened. I had a budding career in modelling and was doing a degree in fine art. It was my summer break and I’d taken a job driving a van for a delivery company. I was just driving along and a man cut me up. I couldn’t see him; there was this massive blind spot.

When I realised he was there, I thought I was going to hit him – and probably kill him. The only thing I could do was swerve the vehicle, crashing it into the verge. Apparently he stopped, that other driver. But when he saw what had happened he turned away and carried on going.

The following four years were spent in bed, just waiting to get better. It’s the sort of thing that you could never believe beforehand that you could do. You imagine that once you get out of the hospital things will go back to normal, but the biggest shock was coming home. There was nothing I could do. I had an unstable spinal column. Recovery is all self-healing; it took a long, long time to be able to sit up. So, I read a lot. I had a television placed high on the wall where I could see it. I was very dependent on my parents. It was a case of living day to day. A waiting game.

Of course, I’d pulled out of university. My parents had to call and tell them. But then, once I was out of bed and in a wheelchair, I went to visit the head of my course. I needed a reference from him. As soon as he saw me he said: “Oh, so you’re coming back then?”

Started from scratch
At first, I thought he was joking. I was there, in my wheelchair with my carer and I couldn’t believe it. But he wasn’t. I went away and thought of nothing else for a couple of days. Then I called up and said that, yes, I’d very much like to come back.
I thought it would be impossible, but he proved me wrong. The university was brilliant. I had a raised platform to lie on while I worked. They gave me a lot of studio space. They were so kind.

Before the accident, my painting had been abstract expressionist. It was very physical, very energetic. This time around, it was totally different. Initially I just started drawing again. I started from scratch: just a piece of charcoal.

PADI Diving Society

I've been getting membership requests for several years and really never thought about being a member. Today, I got another membership request and actually opened it. I'm confused, what exactly is this all about? Yes, I get a monthly magazine and it says discounts (probably not much of a discount for car rental and such), plus don't forget the bag. It's only $19, but still I keep wondering what is the benefit of being a member? What am I missing?

Aqua, the PADI Diving Society magazine

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