Life as a Quadraplegic

I chose to do this Neuro Note on Sophia Malthus. I chose to focus on this after my classmate completed her case study and shared this story with me. I was honestly moved by it and wanted to learn more I watched her short documentary on Youtube titled, "Life as a Quadriplegic: Sophia Malthus". Sophia is a young woman who acquired a spinal cord injury, resulting in her becoming a quadriplegic. She dreamed of becoming a jockey, and absolutely loved her horse. Sadly, one day as she was riding, her horse became spooked causing her to fall of and break her neck. Her spinal cord injury drastically changed her life within a blink of an eye. She went from a happy and outgoing girl, to being wheelchair bound. She has a a C4/C5 injury. She no longer has function from her collar bone down. She deals with high tone in her legs, resulting in decreased ability for functional mobility. She requires assistance for her personal and daily care. 

Relating her injury to what I have learned in my Neuro course, she is capable of operating a manual wheelchair, has no use of a ventilator, and she is able to feed herself. Spinal cord injuries look different for every single person, and the impact it leaves on you is unpredictable. You can have a complete or incomplete injury to a traumatic or non-traumatic injury. But, I really love how she continues to defy the odds that people have once thought she was never able to overcome. She figures out ways to manipulate objects and tasks to be independent. Sophia has so much motivation to become the best version of herself, and she is always wanting to do more. She wants to get as much therapy as she can. I watched another video that showed her auditioning for model calls. She wanted to show other girls battling with the same thing that they can do whatever it is that they want to do. It makes me feel as though I should not take things for granted. It is so crazy how fast your life can change. One of her goals is to be able to drive again that way she can be able to go see her friends again. I hope that one day I am able to create adaptive devices appropriate for individuals who want to be independent for individuals like Sophia. I hate that she was not able to live out her dream of becoming a jockey, but she is inspiring so many people with her journey each and every day. I hope that this makes others want to go out and learn how spinal cord injuries affects people's lives. Always remember, one person's recovery and progress from a spinal cord injury will not look like the next.

Attitude. (2018, May 28). Life as a Quadriplegic: Sophia Malthus. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voPlqTOdVU8