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Hello
and welcome to Disabled-angler and the Danglers Sea fishing section. I
would like to give you an insight into how I have overcome certain
problems, and have adapted tackle and myself to perform certain tasks.
My history
I had a serious accident two years ago and subsequently have had my
right arm amputated - as well as other injuries and suffering two
strokes which have made life a little difficult. It completely
affected my whole left side at first, it stopped me picking things up
with my left hand, made my left eye stay nearly closed all the time
and made my left leg useless as well. My right leg was damaged during
the accident. I broke my right ankle, and the emergency team in
France removed a vein to do an arterial bypass in my arm because they
re-attached my arm after the accident, so I have a scar on my
right leg from the bottom of my shin right the way up through my groin
to just about my waistline. (I keep winning longest scar competitions
for some strange reasons) Anyway I was laid on my back for 3
months, then managed to be sat up, till eventually about 5 months
after the accident the physio's got me out of bed and basically taught
me to walk again. Not very far though - one side of the room to
the other would take half an hour. I then spent 12 months in a
wheelchair and eventually got stronger and managed to start walking
properly myself. I never once gave up and always managed to keep a
positive attitude (which helped me more than anything else, because
there were times I thought I would never walk again). After all
that I am ok now, nearly got all my functions back and normal,
but still struggle a bit with my right leg - it's very painful at
times. But one of the main ambitions I have now is to return to
work and drive a lorry again, and hopefully one day I will do
this. Like I said when I first joined Danglers, they can't
get rid of me that easily.
To
cut a long story short, I have been into all different types of
fishing since I was a kid when my dad used to take me somewhere
different nearly every week. Anyway a lot has happened since then, and
now I am having to learn new techniques all the time.
So in this section I would like you to journey with me as I learn new
tips and ideas that will not only assist myself but others with
similar problems as well. So if anybody has any ideas or questions
fire away and perhaps we can sort a few things out. Also if anyone
wants to contribute with stories and information we could make it a
laugh at the same time. Because at the end of the day that’s what
life is all about.
Planning and coping
Like
everything in life it’s always easier if you spend a little time on
forward planning and thinking about things beforehand to assist you in
overcoming a certain task or problem. I now find this to be the case
very much more so than it was before. As I said previously, my life as
it was no longer exists, it has been turned completely upside down.
Even little things that other people do without thinking I find it
difficult to do, like for example having a shower - how do you
completely wash yourself with one arm (next time you have a shower
just try it and you will see what I mean). When I first came home from
hospital it was easier just to let my wife do it, but as time went on
and I became more mobile and being the stubborn little whatsit that I
am, I wanted to do it myself. So now I have a sponge on a stick and I
find that I can just about manage without having to trouble anybody
else.
Anyway the point I am trying to get across is that anything’s
possible if you put your mind to it, but it won’t happen overnight.
Patience is the key word but it can be done.
So let’s take all this into account and try and work out some ways
in which we can make life a little bit easier.
In this sea fishing section firstly I want to deal with the disabled
angler - what tackle they can get and what adaptations they can make
or buy to improve it, and also what techniques they can learn to be
able to use items more efficiently and more accurately. We can deal
with all the other aspects to do with it at a later date.
Welcome
to the next instalment of the Captain’s story........
So to continue from my previous posts, I
would like to take you back to the beginning. As I have explained
already, before I had this horrific accident I was always a fit,
energetic person living my life at a flat out pace, full of energy and
just loved always being out and about. I was always someone who never
needed a lot of sleep – I can tell you stories that would make you
cringe regarding driving and the lengths we would go to rather than
stop and have a break, so we could carry on our journey so as not to
be late.
In days of old before tachograph
regulations were introduced I would have thought nothing of driving
from Scotland to, say, Portsmouth non-stop to make sure I caught the
correct ferry across to France so as not to miss a delivery booking
time in the south of France or Spain. Some companies in days gone by
used to fine you if you were late, but I am pleased to say this does
not happen any more. Anyway on some occasions I would do this non-stop
for months on end without even having a day off and without coming
home. I would live in my lorry, even taking my clothes to launderettes
to be washed and ironed, and this was my life for over 20 years. Then
all of a sudden one day just over 2 years ago, through no fault of my
own, all this came to a sudden and abrupt end and now I feel like I am
locked in a cage, because the majority of the time now I am at home.
Although I am still out and about doing things, it’s just not the
same.
Being a happy-go-lucky type of person has
helped me tremendously to overcome a lot of the problems I have
encountered, and believe me it has been hard trying to keep a positive
attitude at times, but I have managed to do this more or less by
myself. You see one of the main problems I had at the beginning of my
traumatic experience was the fact that the person responsible for
causing this accident that very nearly killed me never stopped, he
carried on driving and left myself for dead without looking back, and
the French police have never caught the driver of the other vehicle
involved. So I found this hard to come to terms with.
When I first arrived in this country by
air ambulance and was admitted into Preston Royal Infirmary I had to
have counselling to help me come to terms with this. I could not get
my head round the fact that somebody could do this, because if it had
been the other way round I would have stopped to help. But now my
attitude is that everybody’s different and some people are like
that. I suppose it’s what makes the world go round.
I
think what I am saying in this post is that a positive attitude
towards everything in life would help everyone living from day to day.
You see I managed this at the end of the day by keeping my mind busy
because that is the only way you can move on. Whilst I was in hospital
for that very long period I filled my head with information by reading
books and magazines. I also spent a lot of time doing puzzle books
which helped me to learn to write with my left hand, which believe me
is very difficult when you have been right handed all your life.
The
other point I am trying to get across is that no matter how low you
get, never give up, and always look on the brighter side of life
because no matter what there is always some one else somewhere who is
worse off than you are. My theory is now "what will be will
be". Think about this: if I hadn’t had this accident I
wouldn’t be writing this post – instead I would be on my way to
France or Spain or somewhere. You wouldn’t be sat there reading it
either. I know I wouldn’t have lost my right arm either, but I have,
so I have to make the most of it. You see what I mean, that for every
negative point there is a positive which I have found is how you have
got to look at things.
Obviously
things will never be the same, but life is like that – you are
always changing direction and going down different routes without even
realising until you stop and look back. As the song goes "Don’t
look back". I don’t because you don’t need to – you are
going forwards not backwards.
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