Daily Life with a C4/C5 Spinal Cord Injury

It was a good job I spent several years in the Armed Forces. Planning and organising a swimming trip for dad is a ‘military operation’!

Hydro Hub at Seale Hayne, Newton Abbot has some amazing facilities for disabled users. The team were really helpful in our planning phase and very welcoming.

Question: How does a person with a stoma and an indwelling catheter go swimming?

Answer: The same as anyone else would! We used some stickers over the stoma bag filters to prevent water ingress and dads catheter bag tucked into his shorts – luckily they were bought a couple sizes too big!

A lovely warm pool – 37.5 the day we went – with a ceiling track hoist directly from the changing room, out and over the pool.

We did a private hire. Dad and our team of 5 enablers and personal care assistants including me, had never done this before so having the pool to ourselves meant we could take our time to get things right. Public sessions are also available to book.

For ease we booked a morning session, meaning dad could get up and dressed straight into his swim shorts. Dressing and undressing when paralysed is a difficult task at the best of times so reducing the amount of turning and general moving and handling is always best practice.

Once we arrived at the Hydro Hub, access was really easy, no problem at all. A large changing room with a shower bed but we did see shower chairs were also available. Dad was able to be hoisted directly from his wheelchair into the pool. We took his own shower sling!

Three of us were in the water to meet him and support throughout. Was never going to be easy for dad, having to put all his trust in us to keep him safe in the water. Harry (my son) came along with us too, and him working in aquatics and being a lifeguard, gave dad more confidence.

We took a couple of noodles with us for floatation and an adult swim aid I found on Amazon. The swim aid was brilliant and allowed dad total relaxation. A net and three floats allowed dad to lie back and chill out!

It wasn’t all relaxation though, using the noodles, dad was able to try moving his legs around and also tried ‘standing’ too. Harry dipped under the water and placed his feet flat on the floor next to each other as they have a tendency to fall one on top of the other.

25 minutes in the water was enough for the first time. We have to be mindful of rising blood pressure and temperature at all times to avoid an AD attack.

Getting dad out of the pool was likely to be the most tricky, but, we need not have worried. We put the noodle around dad and moved him into a more upright position, the PA’s lowered the sling into the water and we placed this under him and connected it back up to the hoist. Once the noodle was removed, dad was hoisted up and off they took him for a shower and change.

A lovely little snack bar by the entrance where we all enjoyed a drink before heading home.

We ALL look forward to giving this adventure another go, very soon. Can highly recommend the facilities at the Hydro Hub.