My name is Juan, and I am 56 years old. I am originally from Argentina, but I now live in London. I studied Economics and Political Science at university and for the last 25 years I have worked in risk analysis in the banking sector, travelling the world working on oil, gas, and mining projects. In February 2024, I left my job after sustaining a spinal cord injury.
I was on a ski week in France when I fainted on the slopes. After falling 700 meters, my friends and the rescue team found me off-piste. I have been told I was unconscious for three minutes, but I can’t recall that. The rescue team took me to the closest hospital, but they didn’t have the equipment to deal with my injuries, so I was moved to a hospital in Geneva. There I had surgery on my cervicals: they replaced cervical six, disc five and six, and linked cervical four to cervical seven to hopefully avoid any further injuries.
A few days later, I had surgery on my tibia as this bone was broken in 12 places. After my surgery, I had some physio in Geneva but two months later I moved to a hospital in London. Once I had spent a month in the Royal Free Hospital, I moved to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, where I am still now, four months later, completing my rehabilitation.
After the surgery I was assessed as having a C4 incomplete D spinal cord injury, but now my diagnosis has changed to C5 incomplete D. I have been completely affected by my injury. Walking, of course, was an issue at the beginning. My hands have also been really affected: I cannot relax them, they are very stiff, and I am still working on that. I can’t really move my fingers. But I am walking, with a frame, even if it is in a very slow manner. At the beginning I was hoisted, but now I can do most things myself. The change is extraordinary.
Just one or two days into my stay at the spinal cord injury centre, I went into Horatio’s Garden. I have particularly enjoyed the music in the garden. As part of the arts programme, I have done painting with Russell, one of the garden’s volunteers. For a long time, I have enjoyed painting, even before the pandemic, and it has been great to carry on painting in the garden.
Since my injury, I have become much closer to my family and friends. Unfortunately, my family all live in Argentina. They wanted to travel to visit me, but I told them I have enough people looking after me! I just wanted to focus on my rehabilitation, and getting better for them. My brother has been phoning and video calling me, and my sister-in-law is a doctor, so she has been talking with the medical staff.
My friends have travelled from abroad to see me, from Amsterdam, Spain, and even Argentina, and that is really extraordinary. Every time my friends visit, the garden is our meeting place. The garden is much more vibrant and cosy than the ward. We usually have a cup of tea here, and some of my friends have done ceramics and painting sessions with me.
A memory that will stay with me forever is when my friend from Argentina surprised me with a visit. I was painting in the garden when she arrived. I will also never forget the time I first walked in the garden. I had walked in the gym before, but walking in the garden was very exciting.
When I leave the garden, I am going to stay with my family in the South of France for two months. The house there is flat and has no stairs, so that’s why I am moving there. Whilst I am there I am going to paint, relax, and read. My long term goal is to get back to the slopes. I don’t know if I am going to be able to. But even if I’m not going to be able to reach that goal, I’m going to use that goal as motivation.
To any other patient at the spinal cord injury centre, I would tell them to do all of the activities in Horatio’s Garden, even if they don’t have any issues with their hands. I use Horatio’s Garden because all the activities involve my hands, which is something I need to work on. But I would tell anyone to come here and utilise the benefits of the sessions. Even if you don’t think the sessions will help you physically, it will help your mental health and wellness. I think we are privileged to have the garden as a tool. It would be silly not to use it!