Hello and welcome to tetraplegicliving.com. My name is Penn and I live in the picturesque fishing port of Brixham which is located on the south-west coast Devon, England.

In 1986 when I was just 16 I dived into a swimming pool and suffered a serious spinal cord injury to my neck. Unfortunately the severity of my spinal cord injury meant I was going to have to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair as a tetraplegic. Being a tetraplegic means that I have absolutely no movement in my legs and hands and limited movement of my arms. However having a spinal cord injury has not stopped me getting on with my life and I now have various interests and hobbies that keep me busy on a daily basis.

I created tetraplegic living a few years ago to portray my life in a wheelchair and show that even though I may be a fairly high level tetraplegic, I am able to get out and participate in various hobbies and interests. Many people assume that tetraplegics have absolutely no arm movement whatsoever. Obviously this is the case with some tetraplegics but my particular level of tetraplegia means I can drive my adapted Mercedes Sprinter Van from my wheelchair, participate in one of my favourite hobbies angling, in particular fishing for carp and operate both my computer and amateur radio equipment independently. I would love to share with you my knowledge and experiences of being in a wheelchair for over 25 years and show you that with a little perseverance and innovation, you are able to get out there and enjoy many of the hobbies that you may have participated in before being wheelchair-bound.

Various Articles of Interest

I have written various articles that explain in detail how I participate in both my hobbies and activities such as fishing and driving my van using joystick steering. A lot of thought has gone into how I have approached not only taking up old hobbies again, but also trying new ventures and activities. Please remember that what suits me may not necessarily suit you, I would advise you to use my articles as a basis for your own designs and ideas. It may be the case that you can simply duplicate my idea and it will work for you, however I would hate to you to give up because what works for me doesn't work for you. One thing that I have learnt over the years is that there is nearly always a solution to a problem

Life Is What You Make of It

I want to make one thing clear, I'm certainly not going to pretend that being disabled is fantastic because it isn't. However, I can certainly say I have more good days than bad. The bad days?, Well, they can be bloody awful, the good days, they make up for the bad days which is what counts. I prefer to live each day as it comes and tend not to plan too far ahead, but that's just the way I live, I've had a lot of problems over the years and fortunately I have overcome many problems, some of them life-threatening so I value every moment of my life and intend to make the best of what I have got.

Even though my accident was over 25 years ago, I often reminisce about what life was like before I had my accident, they are nice thoughts and it's good to remember what it's like to be an able-bodied young lad. Until they come up with a cure for spinal injury, I'm afraid that we spinal the injured folk are stuck like this. The way I look at it, I have two options at my disposal, I can either vegetate in my wheelchair and the absolutely nothing, or I can find interests and activities that keep me active and happy. Thankfully I chose the latter and now I can honestly say that I am quite content with my life. I have plenty of things to keep me busy whether that is outside in the fresh air, or in the comfort of my own house. I have some great friends who share of thunder interest to me which means I can participate in many activities knowing I have a great support system.

Visually Impaired & Disabled Guests

Being disabled myself means I can develop my website with accessibility in mind. I do use a mouse and do not have to rely on my keyboard alone to navigate the website. However, I am fully aware that some people will use the keyboard and/or a screen reader to navigate through my website. I'm looking for disabled and visually impaired people to evaluate this website and tell me if there is any area that needs attention regarding accessibility. Please contact me here and let me know if there's anything I need to do to make the website more accessible for my blind and disabled guests. I will strive to make the website as accessible as possible so please don't be afraid to contact me.