A story of courage and determination
In September 2016, Zara was working on Grand Cayman in the Caribbean. After a dive with a friend, she was driving home when she suffered a seizure or TIA and crashed into a concrete post. Thankfully no one else was involved in the accident – but many people have been involved in her recovery ever since.
Her injuries were life-changing: six bleeds on the brain, a traumatic brain injury (TBI), a broken neck and complete paralysis down her right side. She had twisted double vision and was unable to talk, walk or swallow. The hospital in Cayman contacted Ian, and Zara was airlifted to Miami, where she stayed for a month. Back in the UK, she had nine months of intensive rehabilitation with Livability Icanho in Suffolk.
“Basically, my brain had split in two, severing the nerves that connect your brain to your muscles – and I needed to repair and rebuild those connections.”
Zara
Always sporty, Zara was determined to relearn the things we all take for granted – from swallowing again before she was allowed a drink, to using the toilet and walking. She treated recovery like a job, trying different approaches instead of giving up. She hadn’t realised how much she loved walking until it was taken away, or how frustrating it is to be left in a wheelchair wherever the last person put you.
When her NHS rehabilitation ended, carrying on privately would have cost around £120 an hour. Ian had given up his job to become her full-time carer, and with no income, even cheaper activities soon added up. Zara and Ian knew how much harder it would have been without family and friends behind them – 3 Million Steps was born to bridge that gap.
