Daily Life with a C4/C5 Spinal Cord Injury

A morning out with the Spinal Injuries Association and an opportunity to give table tennis a try at Plymouth Life Centre!

No idea what to expect with table tennis but we’ll give it a go! It was a slightly earlier start for the PA’s to help dad get up and ready. They never mind though, enabling dad to access the community is part of their role.

Plymouth Life Centre has some great facilities and accommodates wheelchair really well. All doors are wide, plenty of space in the corridors and a ‘changing places’ changing room which we love. It makes such a difference being able to use a bathroom that has plenty of space to manoeuvre.

So, on to the table tennis. Led by an amazing local table tennis legend, Olly, the group paired up and took to a table. How brilliant was Olly??!! He explained a couple of differences for adapted TT, how to hold the bat and also bought along some fishing nets! Yes, fishing nets! Who’d have thought you need fishing nets for adaptive TT? Well, apparently they were for me! Ball collector! Fishing nets make scooping the balls up easier – genius!

All I heard was chatter and laughter; some great rallies and, playing to their strengths, Olly teamed dad (left handed) up with a buddy (right handed) for some doubles action. An hours booking led to 90 minutes as they all had such fun.

Spinal Injuries Association arrange social meetings in local areas and can provide a range of support. We look forward to the next SCI activity…Plymouth Life Centre also has platform diving boards and climbing walls, so I am a little concerned about what’s next!