Hi my name is Sheena, I’m 24 years old and

last year I was out with friends in Hamilton and during my uber ride home we crashed on the highway.

The next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital and being told I was paralyzed from the waist down because I broke my spine. In that moment I felt like my life was ruined forever. I didn’t have a great childhood to begin with. I was shy because of that. My teens weren’t much easier as I struggled with another traumatic event and emergency surgery. Then in my early 20s my dad died.. so I didn’t have an easy life to say the least, but just when everything was going great for me it all got wrecked. I worked so hard and finally had everything I wanted. A Job I loved, saved up a little for a vacation and good results after working out for a few years. I was happy and confident. 

After the accident I lost all that. I really wanted to give up on life but I had one good thing left. My support system. My mom, my boyfriend and my friends. So I decided I will just try to do whatever I can to get better because they care about me. I was told from the beginning by doctors that I wouldn’t walk again. But I worked very hard in the hospital working out two hours a day and by the time I was discharged I had proven them wrong. But it’s not as simple as it sounds.

I have to use a cane because one leg is much weaker than the other. I lost most of my muscle because I was bedridden for so long. This is why I don’t feel confident anymore. If I was to fall down right now I wouldn’t even be able to stand up again on my own. Building my muscle back is going to be much harder and slower now that my nerves are damaged. I need physiotherapy every single day. I drive past where my accident happened 6x every week because there is only one neuro physiotherapy clinic in the area for spinal cord injuries. Right now it costs about $5,000 a month. But because of the circumstances of my car accident, I didn’t get enough money from insurance to pay all my expenses. Basically, in Ontario when people are hurt in an accident the drivers insurance is divided among them. After I got out of the hospital, had to move into an accessible apartment because my family home was impossible to live in a wheelchair and I still needed one for a few months after leaving the hospital. All together it will cost me $100,000 a year to pay for living and medical expenses.

I am determined to work hard and do everything I can to get my life back. I hope one day I will be strong enough to do all the things I dreamed of before I got hurt, like travelling. If you can offer any support that would really help ease my stress. I want to stay positive and believe I can do this but in reality I can only do what I can afford to. Neurological physiotherapy is the reason I have made it this far and I desperately want to be able to continue as long as I can until I am strong again.

When something like this happens you expect that there will be something in place to make sure you get all the support you need. But in reality the support you get from insurance is extremely limited. That’s why I need to ask for your help. I would’ve liked to hide all this and pretend everything’s great, I’m uncomfortable with drawing any attention to the fact I’m dealing with these problems but if asking for help is what I need to do to make sure I have access to the support I need to recover, then that’s what I’m going to do.

So thanks for reading this. Just know if you decide to donate, the funds will be used by someone who is determined to work hard and never give up on getting their happiness back. It will really help me to not have to worry so much about money and just focus on my recovery.