Episode 40 - Sophie Elwes on the party that left her paralysed from the chest down & how we can always find something to be thankful for
In this episode Alice is joined by Sophie Elwes. Sophie is a mentor for the spinal injuries charity, backuptrust.org.uk, a para-athlete waterskiing & wake-boarding for Great Britain and host of her podcast - A Life Less Ordinary with Sophie Elwes. In 2011, at age 22, Sophie fell 8 meters while at a party and was given a 40% chance of survival. She was left paralysed from the chest down and dependent on a wheelchair.Despite this adversity, she went on to spend several years alpine skiing as a member of the British Disabled Ski Team and then decided admirably that wasn't actually what she wanted and it was time to come back to London. Since then she works as a mentor for the Back Up Trust and now waterskis for Great Britain! She is truly such an inspiring human to listen to and learn from. In this episode we talked all about: - The accident that left her paralysed & life beforehand - Her experience of waking up in hospital afterwards & coming back to life after her accident - Feeling isolated and losing friends after - How we become wiser with time after trauma - The struggles of people's general reactions to a spinal chord injury - Being on track for the Paralympics GB ski team and the refreshing realisation that wasn't what she actually wanted - How we can educate ourselves on ableism - The growth she experienced from becoming paralysed - The true power of being in service to others And so much more... I hope you enjoy this truly inspiring episode! If you do enjoy this episode then find us below on social media, tag us in your stories! We would love to hear from you Find Sophie here on: Instagram & her Podcast A Life Less Ordinary with Sophie Elwes. www.backuptrust.org Find me here on: Instagram: @lawali_life LinkedIn www.lawali-life.com