Amelia Peckham, from Harrogate, suffered a horrific quad bike accident at the age of 19, leaving her in hospital for 5 months, and with life-changing injuries.
Sadly, the latest figures show that 16 million people in the UK live with a disability, 24% of the total population.
Amelia, now the co-founder of Cool Crutches and Walking Sticks, is sharing her story from the last 18 years since her accident, to show others that there is nothing to be ashamed of.
RECOMMENDED READING:
Indeed, her business has attracted nationwide attention as an example of small business success and celebrity clients including Amada Holden, Eamon Holmes, Olly Murs, Jonny Bairstow, Frank Dettori and Dame Prue Leith.
At the age of 19, Amelia was on holiday with a group of friends who decided to explore on quad bikes. As she was driving, the quad bike hit a pothole, causing it to slide over the edge of a cliff.
Amelia said: “It was then I had a decision, to either jump and hope I landed ok or hold on and risk going to the bottom into a river with the quad bike. I chose to jump and rolled down the hill, my hips got stuck on a rock and my top half kept rolling.”
Sadly Amelia very quickly knew something was wrong. Thinking she had just broken her foot, she asked her friend to remove her boots.
Amelia continued: “My friend said’ You’re not wearing any boots’ and I realised I had no feeling at all from my waist down.”
After the accident, Amelia was flat on her back for six weeks before being operated on to take a bone graft from her pelvis and use it to fuse three vertebrae in the centre of her back, allowing her to start rehab earlier than originally planned.
(Image: pic supplied)
Unfortunately, rehab also didn’t go as planned for Amelia. After making the progress of learning to walk with walking bars, three months after her accident she was able to use crutches.
Amelia revealed: “When I did finally receive my first pair of hospital crutches I was ecstatic, I was going to learn to walk and these were the tools I’d been prescribed to give me back my independence, the ability to walk, move and live.
“Unfortunately, within a week I was put back on bed rest due to debilitating blisters on my hands. It was devastating, all the work I’d put into rehab was going to come to a stop because of my crutches.”
During a search by Amelia’s parents to find other crutches that would help, they sadly found nothing.
Instead, Amelia and her mum set up their own walking aids business, with crutches that had moulded handles to a left and right hand, and a squidgy grip that slid over the handle to prevent blisters.
The crutches would also come with a clip function to adjust the height to avoid clicking, as well as removable cuffs and a cushioned, shock-absorbing rubber tip with added grip so they don’t slip.
Amelia added: “The patients in hospital LOVED them! The only other thing? Colour! The ones we had were black and whilst sleek, everyone said they’d love to have something more fun.
“So, we spent the next few months finding a way to colour them, we created a website and in September 2006 just 11 months after my accident we launched Cool Crutches.”
Amelia is hoping her crutches can help show people who aren’t living with disabilities or injuries, as well as those who are, that there is a whole community living life, enjoying it, and are proud of what their walking aids mean.
