Can you briefly introduce yourself?
I'm Donna, 26 years old, and I'm from Rotterdam.
What was your life like at the time of your accident?
Almost my entire life took place in Rotterdam. I studied Real Estate at the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences and had the opportunity to do great internships at large commercial real estate companies like CBRE and ASR Real Estate. After that, I took a different turn and started working at a social media marketing agency in Rotterdam, Somention. After about a year, I made the switch to the subsidiary Influentials, where I got to work as an account executive in the influencer marketing world. A world that has stolen my heart a bit, because the impact of the influencer world is enormous and should be a fixed part of your strategy as a company nowadays.
I've actually been immersed in sports from my parents and family since I was little. Three times a week, you could find me on the hockey field. In total, I played hockey for 15 years. I have the best memories from that time, and I also made my best friends. It was wonderful to be out on the field in all kinds of weather. I've basically played as a midfielder my whole life and still think the sport is amazing. Additionally, I was on skis since I was two years old and loved skiing and snowboarding. I've also had horses for a large part of my life, where I trained a lot for competitions. In the summer, our family did a lot of water sports behind the boat, like water skiing and wakeboarding. Finally, in the last three years, I've been doing a lot of cycling and Pilates to stay fit.
Can you take us back to the day of the accident?
I was on vacation in Valencia with my hockey friends, and on a warm summer evening, we wanted to cool off in the water. Together with a friend, I wanted to get into the water, but I ended up completely unfortunate because the water was shallow. I was lying with my head underwater and thought I was going to drown.
What was the period immediately after the accident like?
I was taken to the hospital in Valencia by ambulance. The next day, I had a nine-hour surgery, which revealed that three of my cervical vertebrae were broken (C4, C5, and C6). The Spanish doctors were able to stabilize my neck with a metal cage.
After that, there was actually a very scary period. I spent 10 days in the ICU, and fortunately, my family was by my bedside within a day.Due to the operation, talking, eating, drinking, swallowing, and breathing were very difficult. These were really scary days. When I was a bit more stable, I was allowed to go to the department of the Spanish hospital, and I stayed there for about three weeks until I was flown to Erasmus MC in the Netherlands. Because of a waiting list at the rehabilitation centers, I had to wait six weeks in the hospital. Day in, day out, I lay in bed 24 hours a day and couldn't get out. There was no wheelchair available for me, and my body and mind couldn't handle it yet; it was too taxing and took too much energy.
After that, I was admitted to Hoogstraat in Utrecht, where I lived clinically for nine months. It was a place with a lot of information and knowledge, and you feel that immediately upon entering. But apart from that, it is of course a dreadful place, and very intense to actually live and reside there.I remember so well that I thought, when I walked in: wow, all these people in wheelchairs have had such bad luck and look so disabled - not realizing that I was part of that too. However, I also made friends for life. Someone with a spinal cord injury only needs half a word and you completely understand each other. Everyone who doesn't have that has shown me so much empathy and love in this situation, but only people with a spinal cord injury truly understand.
The support I felt from family, friends, but also strangers was unprecedented. My room was filled with at least 500 cards (stopped counting after that), and the therapists played a big part in my rehabilitation process. I realize all too well that it is not a given that my family came to visit every day and fully supported me through this situation. I am all the more grateful for that <3.
What do you miss the most since the accident?
My spinal cord injury has impacted all aspects of my life. I could no longer do the most basic things by myself. In the beginning, we talked about not even being able to speak and having difficulty breathing, but later I realized that I couldn't eat independently, couldn't brush my teeth, shower, do my hair which was something I loved, couldn't apply my makeup by myself, and I couldn't wear what I always wanted to wear. Furthermore, I had to go through life in an electric wheelchair, something I really didn't want. Eventually, after a lot of practice, I managed to get around in a manual wheelchair.
Additionally, I could no longer return to the student house where I lived, so I had to look for a new home that was suitable for a wheelchair.With a tight and strained housing market in Rotterdam, and of course no salary but a benefit from UWV, this seemed like a completely impossible issue. In the end, I managed to find something that I am incredibly happy with.
But actually, it's hard to put into words how much impact it has on your whole life. Everything is different, everything requires adaptability and flexibility. Nothing is taken for granted anymore, nothing can you do independently, and the fact that you are dependent on others for everything is mentally very difficult.
What misunderstandings do you think exist about living with a spinal cord injury?
There are actually three things that I find difficult. The first is that the longer time goes on, the more normal the situation becomes for everyone. The wheelchair is now part of Donna, and Donna is part of the wheelchair.That makes a situation feel more normal as time goes by, but that doesn't mean it gets easier. Having a spinal cord injury is still very challenging, even if it doesn't always seem that way at first - despite the fact that I'm chatting away and full of energy and enthusiasm sitting somewhere.
The other thing is that not everyone with a spinal cord injury is the same. There are so many differences within a spinal cord injury. I have a complete spinal cord injury, where your spinal cord is completely severed and no signals come in from your brain to your muscles. Regardless of training, that won't make a difference in regaining functions, and nature has determined this for me. But you also have an incomplete spinal cord injury, where signals from your brain to your muscles still go through, allowing you to regain more function through training.
People also think that it will always just be me and my spinal cord injury. But my spinal cord injury affects my entire environment. My family always has to take me into account. My friends always have to take me into account. My work always has to take me into account, and that can be quite mentally challenging at times. I keep thanking everyone every time, because I am so grateful for the fact that my family and friends take me everywhere without a sigh.
How do you view the research into a solution for spinal cord injuries?
From the beginning, I have said that I hope science will catch up with me one day. It’s not that I wake up every day with a constant feeling of hope for a cure, because I try to live my life with the limitations I have now and the adjustments I need to make. I try to make the best of it and lead as enjoyable a life as possible.But still, hope keeps you going somewhere (nice, right?). If I could possibly regain hand function through a medication, or possibly regain leg function. It sounds like a far-off dream now, but at the same time, I believe that I will experience this. Maybe in about 10 years? Then I'll be 35 - a great moment to start my third life (Donna without paralysis is life one, Donna with paralysis is life two, and Donna with the medication is life three).
If the day ever comes that there is a treatment or breakthrough, what is the very first thing you would want to do again?
I really couldn't choose. But I think the very first thing I would do is jump up without thinking, run to everyone I love and hug them. Stand with my feet in the grass, and then take out my prettiest heels and dance and parade in them all night long.I would immediately take a flight to a ski area because the freedom you experience while skiing is unparalleled, and I often fantasize about it. Wait, can I add something? Standing in front of the mirror, looking at myself, and being grateful for a healthy body. Because the way I've treated my own body poorly over the past 24 years is completely unjustified.
Do you think more awareness around back protection can make a difference? Why or why not?
Look, nothing in life is guaranteed, and an accident can happen in a small corner, but if you can do something to possibly prevent it or reduce the chance, you're crazy not to. Especially since the designs nowadays are so great that a
