Dad talks of horror quad accident

Oct 6 2008 by Alison Rennie, Paisley Daily Express

WHEN Michael Girvan decided to take up a new hobby he had no idea it could leave him paralysed.

The energetic 32-year-old who loves outdoor sports, thought long and hard before opting for the new challenge of quad-biking.

He spent a year looking at various types of quad bikes before eventually splashing out on his dream machine.

It had taken him months to find, but one Saturday afternoon in late August he took it out for a spin in the fields outside his home.

His mum was there to watch ... and that possibly saved his life.

For when Michael over-revved the powerful machine, it flipped up and threw him off.

He landed heavily on a bit of tarmac and revealed his first thought was, ‘this is bad’.

Going back to that day Michael recalls: “I was lying there and I could tell something was wrong straight away,” he said.

“My left side got most of it. I couldn’t move anything to start with.

“My mum was watching me when it happened. She really got a fright.”

Michael was rushed to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley where he found he was able to move his toes.

“It was strange, I had a big graze on my left calf and I could feel that but nothing else.”

Michael fractured his L2 vertebrae and cracked the one above it. He was moved to the Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injury Unit at the Southern General after just 24 hours at the RAH.

Surgery

There he underwent major surgery to tie together three vertebrae in his back with titanium brackets and bolts.

He explained: “I wasn’t allowed to move a thing before the surgery incase it damaged anything else. I was strapped to the bed and unable to move.

“The bed was specially made to move my legs for me so that I didn’t get bed sores.

“After a week and a half I started to get a bit of movement back but I had no strength at all.

“I had my operation on the Wednesday after I was admitted and the staff in the unit had me up the following Monday afternoon.”

Michael is now walking regularly and doing exercises in the gym to build up his strength with his physio, Claire Lincoln.

He wears a body brace at all times and on the day he spoke to the Paisley Daily Express he was hoping to have his wheelchair taken away and be able to use just two sticks to get around.

“I was told three weeks ago that I would be out in around six weeks, so I’m aiming for that,” he said.

“I will still have to come back and do exercises with the physios but it will be great to get home. It will make a big difference to me.”

Michael lives with his wife Irene, daughter and two step-sons in Crosslee, Houston.

The week after Michael started getting up and about, the unit organised a week of Paralympic sporting events.

He took part in the air rifle, archery and darts activities in the unit gym as well as wheelchair badminton and tennis held at Scotstoun Leisure centre.

Fun

“It was good fun. I haven’t played badminton since school and certainly not in a wheelchair, so it was great to have a go at it.”

Before the accident, the only time Michael had been in hospital was when he was a 12-year-old Cub Scout.

“I fell out of a tree and was in hospital for five days,” he said. “It was similar to what happened this time, I was taken to the RAH overnight then moved to the neurology department at the Southern General after 24 hours.

“I’ve broken my wrist a couple of times as well.”

Michael drives heavy goods vehicles for a living and works for his brother-in-law in Beith. He is hoping that he’ll be able to go back to doing that.

As for the future, he is determined to get back to where he was before the accident and said he never thought he wouldn’t be able to walk again.

He said: “The doctors don’t tell you whether it will come back or not, they’ll never give you a definite answer.

“Some say it’ll take up to a year, other nurses have said it could be two years.

“Two people with exactly the same injury could have different terms of recovery. It depends on your own fitness and determination.

“I’m determined to get as much back as possible. I think I should get back to normal.

“My plan is to try and get back on my mountain bike. Before the accident we had just been on holiday to Spain and I’d bought myself a new bike so I’m hoping to get on that once I’m better.

“This hasn’t curbed my enthusiasm. But I don’t think I’ll be taking up quad biking again!”