'I never knew about Spinal Injuries Ireland until I needed them'

“Speed and lack of concentration and inexperience on a motorbike caused my accident.”

In that split second, his life was turned upside down.

“After an accident like that, you need somebody to talk to who knows what you’re going through.”

Spinal Injuries Ireland (SII) were the voice at the end of the phone for him at that vital moment and continue to be.

“I never knew about Spinal Injuries Ireland until I needed their services,” he says, like many people with spinal injuries.

He now wants to give back to SII and a fundraiser has been organised on Saturday, September 13.

Mariea Hyland, Alex Claxton and Carmel Giblin, or Team CAM as they like to be known from The Tavern Bar and Restaurant, will be running the Clew Bay 10k to raise money for Spinal Injuries Ireland.

That evening The Tavern will host music from the Sweeney Macs, followed by a disco with Sean Riley. Sean has been very helpful in helping Team CAM with organising the fundraising.

Raffle
THERE will also be a raffle on the night and Myles is very grateful to the sponsors who have donated the many prizes.

Myles is asking all the locals in the area to please come and support on Saturday, September 13, on what should be a good night. All of the profits from the bar will be donated to SII.

Spinal Injuries Ireland Ambassador Fergus Farrell will speak on the night.

His own story is inspiring as a life-altering workplace accident in 2018 left him paralysed from the waist down.

He was told he’d never walk again. However, Fergus regained sensation in his legs and has been making the most of this incredible opportunity ever since. Fergus is currently walking the entire length of the Wild Atlantic Way to raise money for SII.

Money raised will go towards supporting SII’s core services. These include vital supports to newly injured patients (and their families) such trauma counselling and the SII Activities programme, as well as all the support that SII provides on an on-going basis to anyone with a spinal cord injury in Ireland who needs it.

This ranges from educational support to ensure not only do people with spinal cord injuries know how to best manage their injuries, but also keeping their service users up to date on the latest research and developments in the field.

“Another important aspect of the work SII do is in connecting people into services (such as home care or accessing grants) in their local area, and they are also fantastic advocates for the spinal cord community too. Unfortunately, SII only receives enough state funding to cover 40% of their service delivery each year and they rely on fundraising to deliver the rest so please do support generously if you can, any amount is a huge help.”

Life changing experience
IN the two years since, Myles has come a long way and regained the use of his hands through physiotherapy and the brilliant work of the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire Co Dublin.

“I would like to thank all the staff and management in the Tavern for helping me out since my accident, and helping myself and Ruth get through it, because it’s been a life changing experience. The staff have been wonderful and held it together while I spent over a year in hospital recuperating.”

He has made adjustments to his home and jokes that “every door down in my house has a piece of paint chipped off the side of it where I’ve hit it with the wheelchair.”

He hopes eventually to get planning for a purpose built house suitable for his needs.

One of the hardest challenges, apart from the physical and psychological, is that he is no longer able to cook in the restaurant he spent 25 years building up.

“I can’t actually go into the kitchen. I need to be able to reach everything.”

He has moved out of the kitchen and into the business side of operations, which he acknowledges is a totally different set of skills.

“I am in the situation where I’m always going to have carers for the rest of my life. But I want to be as independent as possible, and its people like Spinal Injuries Ireland and the Irish Wheelchair Association who enable us to do that.”

“That’s why we’re having the fundraising. And it’s fabulous that the staff and customers in the tavern are helping with fundraising.”

Anyone interested in donating can do on the idonate page - https://www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/TavernTeamClewBay10k