**competition story please vote by shares and re-tweets**
As a person with a disability, there are certain things I never thought I’d do. After diagnosis and a swift degeneration which meant life as a wheelchair user, I grieved for the life I thought I’d have, and came to terms with the life I now thought I could expect. From everything I had read, this was the healthy thing to do, and I thought I was being very healthy and positive. I was getting on with my life despite changes. I was happy. What I didn’t realise at the time was that I was also settling. I had made peace with a view of disability that came from decades ago. I’d accepted that I would live a life where there were many things I couldn’t do, and while this was true to an extent (I need help with alot of daily living tasks) I didn’t take the time to think of all the things I could do, including things I’d never done.
In 2013 I had my first ever holiday abroad. As a wheelchair user, I didn’t think plane travel would be possible. My then boyfriend convinced me it was, and he was so very right. We had a fantastic holiday in the sun where I did 90% of the things that the able bodied holiday makers did. With a few adaptations and tweaks in routine, not to mention alot of help from my boyfriend, I enjoyed swimming in the pool, lounging in the sun and eating beautiful shellfish as evening fell. It was blissful, and it showed me that I really could hope to expect what I thought to be the unexpected.
But what happened next was even more amazing. My boyfriend proposed and became my fiance, and in August of this year we became man and wife. I toddled down the (very short) aisle with the help of some very glamorous crutches and my fathers arms, as he passed me into the care of my husband to be. We sat down during the ceremony and at the reception I whizzed around in my wheelchair, which was decked out to match the venue. It was a magical day. For a girl who thought she’d never go anywhere or do anything, let alone find anybody to love her, it was a huge wake up call. It showed me that while I thought I was doing the right thing at the time, you can never set your sights to high. So much is possible and within your grasp, you just have to reach for it. I will never settle again, and never stop reaching for the stars.
By Vicky Kuhn
