Hello my name is Andy trollope,and on the 27th of july 2008 my whole world was turned upside down when i was competing at a British Championship moto cross round at Fox Hills moto park nr Swindon.Which left me completely paralysed from the chest down.The technical term for this injury is T5 complete,the complete meaning no sensation or movement anywhere below the point of damage to the spinal cord.I was transfered from swindon great western hospital,to the National Spinal Injuries centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.Where i underwent surgery to have my spine straightened,the splintered vertibrae bones in my spinal cord removed,bone cut from my hips and used to reconstruct the shattered vertibrae and was then fixed with metal rods and screws from t5 to t8 to allow the bones to fuse.I was in the spinal unit at stoke for four months of blood sweat and tears during my rehab
and discharched on the 28th of november(Aparantly one of the fastest rehabs for a spinal cord injury  of my level to complete the rehab programe and be discharged in Stoke Mandeville's 25 year at that time history,a testiment to the level of care and dedication of the staff that work there).I returned to my house in salisbury wiltshire and found that my friends and family had rallied round and mad all the adaptions need for me to help cope with my new life in a wheel chair,adapted bathroom/shower and stair lift among many other things.I returned to work part time two weeks after being discharged at my Garage Brunel Motors and tried to continue my job as a car and light commercial vehicle technician,itr was nt easy and at times very frustrating but thanks to my great team of staff and fantastic family life was soon very close to being"normal"
The only problem was i very soon was missing the adrehnalin rush that i used to get regularly from racing professional motocross.After trying virtually every disability sport there is,with out getting that buzz i booked my self on a skiing course inwinter park colorado.the trip was organised by a fantastic charity for spinal cord injured people called the back up trust.I was hooked from the first day and i knew immediatly that this was the sport for me and that i wanted to attempt to takeit to the highest level i could to make it on to the GB team and have the honour of representing my country.Find out how my dream is progressing and how i am trying to acheive this by regularly checking this web site,checking the about me section or following me on face book or twitter