Diary of a Gimpy Kid

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Welcome to Gareth’s always amusing and occasionally irreverent disability blog.

Gareth has been playing wheelchair rugby ever since his injury in 2005 and played alongside Rob for several years as part of The Bulls. An English graduate, Gareth is fond of the written word and channels his writing skills, alongside his observations of disability and society, into his blog: The Diary of a Gimpy Kid.

Crafting Christmas With Active Hands

The Christmas preparation can be a bit overwhelming when you are a quad with reduced hand function – here are some tips to help!

The New Norm…? In my previous blog entry from April, which feels like a solid decade ago at this point, I confidently mused that by the time I got round to writing my next entry, all this Coronavirus nonsense would be “firmly in the rearview mirror”… …oh to be young and naive again! Yes, I now find myself firmly at the stage where, with no miracle breakthrough on the horizon, rather than considering when we’ll get on top of this virus, I’m considering if we’ll get on top of it. Life, although severely altered for the foreseeable future, must go on however, and last month saw…

It seems positively ironic that in my previous entry I’d spoken about how uncomfortable I felt accepting help off strangers, and now it’s illegal to be within 2 metres of any of them… The moral of the story is be careful what you wish for!!

My name is Gareth and I am terrible at asking for help from strangers. I haven’t always been this way however, this little aversion being a definite mental side effect of my injury. I’m not sure what exactly it’s rooted in…

Bedbaths & Beyond So here we are: 2019 and 14 years down the spinal cord injury line. Where does the time go?! It feels like only yesterday when I was lying helplessly in my bed in HDU, being rolled from side to side as the nurses bed bathed me and I wondered to myself why they always seemed to take so long washing my back (turns out they weren’t just washing my back)! Months later I would be discharged to my parents house, complete with the most rudimentary set of wheelchair skills, and just about able to wash and dress…

Well we made it, the final Monday of disability employment awareness month. And if you weren’t aware of it beforehand, after five blog entries of me prattling on about it, you sure as s*** must be by now! We’ve heard from several different people, offering varying different opinions and perspectives on not only looking for employment as a person with a disability, but also being accepted into the workplace as a person with a disability; seeing very much the good, the bad and the ugly sides of things. But what if you or someone you know are wanting to get…

So here we are, nuzzled comfortably into the ample bosom of the 4th week of disability awareness month. This week I talk to Shaun who, after three and a half decades in a wheelchair, knows all the ins and outs of life after spinal injury, including the ups and downs of seeking employment. This is his story… Shaun Year of injury & cause: 1983, swimming pool accident Age at time of injury: 14 Current age: 49 Injury level: C5 complete At the time of his injury, Shaun was a schoolboy with no previous experience of employment. He spent the best…

Hello and welcome back! In our 3rd week of disability employment awareness month, I talk to Jamie, a young man whose enthusiasm for getting back to the career he loved quickly became a nightmare, which saw him fighting numerous battles everyday just to keep his job. This is his story… Jamie Year of injury & cause: 2014, RTA (car crash) Age at time of injury: 31 Current age: 35 Injury level: T4 complete Prior to his injury, Jamie had worked several steady jobs including shop assistant, bar manager and teacher. In fact, only a week before his injury, Jamie had…

So, we’re now in the 2nd week of disability employment awareness month and this week I’m focusing on Peter who, as I said at the end of last week’s entry, has struggled to find employment since his injury and thinks it is far harder for people with disabilities to find employment than those without. This is his story… Peter Year of injury & cause: 2004, RTA (motorbike crash) Age at time of injury: 45 Current age: 59 Injury level: T11 complete Although unemployed at the time of his injury due to workforce cutbacks, Peter had spent the previous 15 years…

Well, we’ve made it to October; famous for pumpkins, witches, trick or treat, and also for being…national disability employment awareness month? Yes, in case you didn’t know (and I certainly didn’t until very recently), October in the UK is the official month dedicated to disability employment awareness, that celebrated time of the year that I’m sure 99.9% of employers have no idea exists! Anyway, in honour of this prestigious occasion I thought it was about time I blogged about the trials and tribulations of seeking employment after spinal cord injury. So on every Monday in October I will be posting…