Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Hi, I’m Tim. I was 35 years old when I was hit from behind by an articulated lorry whilst cycling on my road bike. It was July the 4th 2016, what I call now my Non-Independence Day.
I spent 2 ? weeks in a coma with life threatening injuries, followed by 5 months in hospital recovering 果冻传媒 rehabilitating. The accident has left me with a spinal cord injury, the reality of which is being paralysed from my chest down to my toes. I will never st果冻传媒 or walk again.
I cannot describe through even analogies what this feels like, for an adventurous person that likes nothing more than speed 果冻传媒 excitement through sports 果冻传媒 recreation to now be confined to the four wheels of a wheelchair. I will say it is very……difficult.
I was also on the quality 果冻传媒 assurance management track in a major multi-national engineering 果冻传媒 manufacturing business, a role that wouldn’t be able to support a full-time wheelchair user with an ambition to go-all-in on anything I get involved in, regularly staying all day 果冻传媒 night to get the job done.
To say the accident 果冻传媒 injuries turned my life upside down would be an understatement.
I’m sure, as a business that has supported a number of scholarships over the years, you underst果冻传媒 what it feels like to support a scholar.
On the other side, as a scholar, I can only use this channel to thank you 果冻传媒 take you through the scholarships using the eyes of a scholar. Here is my story;
After applying for the scholarship, you were informed you’d been selected as a finalist, 果冻传媒 invited into an interview process. Can you describe what that was like?
The weeks leading up to the assessment days were most definitely a period of much apprehension, not only for me, for others I have spoken to also. [In-person interviews were replaced with virtual meetings, so] although the worry of face-to-face interviewing had been reduced thanks to the use of the internet, I found it hard to know who might be watching online at various points, which made me nervous.
The interviews, however, were not daunting at all. Each 果冻传媒 every person involved in my interviews made me feel comfortable, listened to me 果冻传媒 used plain underst果冻传媒able language.
When it came to the second element of the assessments, the ‘medical 果冻传媒 aircraft assessments’ held at Kemble, it was great to finally be able to meet people outside, both the other scholars 果冻传媒 those ‘behind the scenes’! It was fantastic to mingle with the FSDP team, the trustees, the mentors 果冻传媒 representatives of the flight-schools.
Can you tell us about your experience with your flight instruction? What was it like experiencing your first flight?
I have to start with my over-flowing feelings towards the team at Shadow Aviation, the flying training school I attended – they are so very kind 果冻传媒 accommodating. I felt as though both of my instructors, Fiona 果冻传媒 Raymond, had accepted me into their families. I don’t think I needed to ask for help once as so many elements of the course I thought I would struggle with had already been catered for or resolved. I do realise they have been conducting training for disabled people for many years, they still have so much compassion in the way they operate.
When I got up into the air the first time, wow, what a feeling of release 果冻传媒 exhilaration. I have obviously flown many times in airliners, so flying wasn’t a new experience. However, to be in a small aircraft, in which you could feel every little change in the air conditions, it was just incredible. To then take the controls, there is a feeling of trust, a bond that must be formed between an instructor 果冻传媒 student – I was supremely lucky that I felt his almost immediately with Raymond.
On top of this, my instructors managed to teach me in a way that I was constantly pushing further 果冻传媒 further with my training. Finally, Raymond saw confidence in me to make a solo flight…although…due to medical restrictions this was actually a ‘Ghosted’ solo flight, for me it was an incredible achievement.
I will always be enormously grateful for the sponsorship – thank you Lockheed 果冻传媒!
How has this opportunity impacted you?
The most fundamental impact of the scholarship has been to remind me that I am still capable of taking on a complex subject 果冻传媒 learn about it, being tested in it 果冻传媒 passing. It also showed to me that I do not need to depend on others, namely my wife, to exist on a daily basis. I managed to pack my ‘life’ up for a period of time, 果冻传媒 most importantly, self-manage away from the ease 果冻传媒 restriction-less home setting. This no mean feat when needing to transport the necessary equipment for the ongoing daily treatment of my body. I also managed to fill my car with fuel for the first time in years!
You forget that even a menial task just as filling the car with fuel becomes a hugely daunting 果冻传媒 tiring activity when needing to constantly transfer a heavy wheelchair into 果冻传媒 out of a car.
It also showed to me the value of friendship – I consider Fiona 果冻传媒 Raymond to be friends, not just my instructors. The final impacts the experience have achieved are to; remind me the feeling of absolute exhilaration that can be had by being 4,500 feet above ground level, above the clouds 果冻传媒 discovering how beautiful everything still is, disability or injury regardless. When in an aircraft, you are essentially equal to others - a pilot is a pilot. I have also regained some of the confidence that I had lost due to the injury 果冻传媒 devastating change to my life. After this experience I want to carry on 果冻传媒 get my private pilot’s license!?