Cherie and Corey Ford reflect on the past five years since a freak accident left Corey paralysed from the shoulders down. PHOTO: GERARD O’BRIEN You may not be able to control all the events that happen to you, but they say you can decide not to be reduced by them. Five years ago — almost to the day — Corey Ford had a freak accident while playing basketball, which left him paralysed from the shoulders down. Yesterday, the 46-year-old was tearful as he looked back on what was the darkest time of his life. ‘‘I was playing basketball at the Edgar Centre, and from what I’ve been told, I had a collision with another player and I got knocked out. ‘‘My head hit the floor and kind of bounced off it like a basketball.’’ When he regained consciousness, he couldn’t feel anything below his neck, so he was rushed to Dunedin Hospital before being transferred to Burwood Spinal Unit in Christchurch. It was there that he was told he had damaged his spinal cord and it had caused swelling and scar tissue. It meant signals from his brain to the rest of his body were being disrupted by the injury, which was why he could not feel anything below his shoulders. ‘‘They were saying that the injury was not permanent. There was some chance of getting the use of my legs back, and a good chance I’d get use of my hands and upper body. ‘‘Even so, that was pretty scary hearing that.’’ But at the same time, seeing heaps of people in hospital beds around him — who were clearly in worse states than him — put his situation into perspective, he said. Over the next three months, he started rehabilitation and eventually managed to get upright and to start moving his legs again with support from therapists. ‘‘I mean, I was getting from A to B. ‘‘But it was quite an unstable walk — it wasn’t like a natural walk.’’ The determination to walk again was his ‘‘number one goal’’ at that time, so he was starting to feel buoyed by his progress. His wife Cherie and their two sons were by his side through much of it, but on the one weekend they decided to return to Dunedin for a short break, the Covid-19 level 4 lockdown happened and they were unable to return to his bedside. ‘‘The hospital was all locked down and it was pretty tough, obviously, without their support.’’ On top of all that, at the back of his mind, he was also worried about how his plumbing business was going to cope with the Covid lockdowns. Reflecting on that time, he said his emotions were still quite raw. ‘‘You do reflect on it. So it brings up some interesting feelings.’’ When he was well enough to return to Dunedin, he continued his rehabilitation with physios and psychologists. Now Mr Ford makes walking and climbing stairs look easy, but he said it took a lot of concentration, otherwise he could easily trip and fall over. As a result of the scar tissue on his spinal cord he also continues his daily battle with neuropathic pain. ‘‘Basically, your nerves are firing all the time, like someone’s sticking pins in them. ‘‘It feels like really bad sunburn.’’ Mr Ford had not regained full use of his hands either, but it had not stopped him from returning to work as director of Laser Plumbing, in South Dunedin. ‘‘I was quite determined to try and get some kind of normality — like not sit at home all day and watch daytime television and stew on stuff.’’ With the help of AI, voice-activated programmes and some one-fingered typing, his business was thriving again, he said. Despite being able to walk again, he still has very little feeling from the waist down, which means he has issues with his bowels and bladder. ‘‘I don’t have the ability to be able to hold on. When I’ve got to go, I’ve got to go. ‘‘Like one time, I had an accident when I was sitting in the queue to pick my medication up at the pharmacy. ‘‘I felt like that was the height of badness for me, but now we can kind of laugh about it with friends.’’ He joked that having to go to the toilet was a great excuse to get away from really boring conversations at parties. Mrs Ford said it had been extremely stressful for the family, but she was pleased they had been able to normalise all the challenges they had gone through. ‘‘We’ve shared so much along the way that we’ve actually kind of normalised those conversations. ‘‘If you think about the things that have come out of it, Corey’s been really open about telling people what life is like for him, and being able to joke with people when he’s been caught out somewhere with his bladder. ‘‘To be able to get to that point where you’re just like, ‘Well, this is the way my life is,’ and ‘There are people who have it far worse than this’.’’ Mr Ford believed his accident had brought his family and friends much closer together. ‘‘I broke a whole lot of barriers around talking about my feelings. ‘‘Crying — I’ve found that crying in front of each other is OK.’’ He was confident his boys would grow up to be good, empathetic people because of his accident. ‘‘I think what our boys saw at such a young age — they were only 9 and 6 when I first got hurt — just the way that they look at other people, and the way they help others so much.’’ While he is unable to run or play his beloved basketball any more, these days he gets his ‘‘fix’’ by coaching his sons’ rugby and basketball teams. ‘‘It’s a pretty cool feeling to have, and to be involved in it all.’’ He said the biggest lesson he had learnt from the experience was not to take anything for granted, and to always accept any support that people were willing to give. ‘‘And don’t sweat the small stuff. ‘‘Sometimes I think there’s small things that can stress me out in my day-to-day life, and I will think to myself, ‘Well, actually you’ve been through way worse than that’. ‘‘I have a lot more perspective on what really does matter and what is important in life.’’ He said what was really important for him, was to say he could not have come so far without the continuing support of his family, friends, the community and all the of physio and psychology staff. Asked what his future goals were, he said it was simply to make the most of life. ‘‘The future is a little scary because I don’t know how many more miles my body’s got in it — it’s taken a bit of a hiding. ‘‘I think my main goal is just to try and watch my kids grow up, and be there for them for the next wee while, and then I’ll take it from there. ‘‘I’m definitely that guy who puts his hand up for everything now, rather than just being too busy for stuff.’’ john.lewis@odt.co.nz
