As a young kid, I was much like every other kid into sports
and then started to socialize a bit more.
I think I'd always consider myself the class clown.
I'd probably say I was outgoing, energetic, happy kid.
Yea it was a happy childhood.
So we were walking around a lake
a friend of mine had already got in
and was swimming towards an island in the middle.
I thought that looked like great fun.
I assumed he'd dived in,
so followed suit and took a run up and jumped in.
It was only a foot or so deep,
so I hit the bottom
and unfortunately broke my neck.
Found myself instantly paralyzed,
floating facedown.
I remember trying to reach for air and not being able to reach it,
and eventually a friend pulled me out and saved my life.
I don't think it really sank in for quite a while how serious it was.
And then it's only a week or two, or month later, I realized that this was more serious
and probably going to stay with me for my life.
It's a lot to get used to, quite quickly.
You never consider it's going to happen to you
but... sometimes it does
and you gotta get on with it.
When I first had the accident, I didn't even have my arms
didn't have my shoulders, didn't have anything.
I was just a bag of potatoes
and then slowly over the next seven months I recovered a bit more movement,
bit more arm strength. So I'm glad I got some back.
Friends of Family mean the world to me,
they obviously keep me going in down times.
It makes a huge difference having somebody,
they know you inside and out
It's very nice to still have somebody around that I've known so long.
I wouldn't consider this easy, but it's only as easy as it is
because of people around me, sticking by me.
I'm a Civil Engineer in South East London
and Tobii makes a huge difference to my everyday life.
Mainly just the the freedom and independence
to do all my banking, all my social media, all my work
by myself, without having someone sat next to me the whole time.
The new eye tracker is great. It basically follows my eye movements
and allows me to control the computer just using my eyes.
The new system also has more accurate cameras, they've now got environment controls.
From brushing my teeth to eating dinner, I need somebody helping me,
but when i come to work, I sit down and for eight hours
I'm in control.
I always said, if I regain my legs, the first thing I'd do is go out swimming.
I think the freedom of getting out uninhibited would be...
would be beautiful.
It was a split second decision
which unfortunately went wrong for me
and yea, it could have turned my life upside down
and kept me in the gutter
but with the support from friends and family
and the innovation of technology
I can live life to the full
and have a really good time along the way.