0:00:07 > 0:00:12'As the BBC's Security Correspondent, I have been covering
0:00:12 > 0:00:14'news in the Middle East and elsewhere for 15 years.'
0:00:14 > 0:00:16Now that the US has a base here in the Horn of Africa...
0:00:16 > 0:00:20'In 2004, while I was reporting from Saudi Arabia,
0:00:20 > 0:00:23'we were ambushed and repeatedly shot by several gunmen.'
0:00:23 > 0:00:25A BBC team has come under fire from gunmen
0:00:25 > 0:00:28in a suburb of the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30My cameraman was killed
0:00:30 > 0:00:34and one of the six bullets that hit me damaged my spinal nerves,
0:00:34 > 0:00:38leaving my legs partly paralysed and me dependent on a wheelchair for the rest of my life.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42Now, sadly spinal cord injuries are not rare.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44They can happen to anybody at any time,
0:00:44 > 0:00:46regardless of age or background.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52'Matt, when he was growing up was, like many boys of his age, sport-mad.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55'And he lived for his rugby.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59'When he was 17 years old, his sporting dream came true.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02'He was signed up to play with the London Broncos.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05'But just 20 seconds into his first ever professional game,
0:01:05 > 0:01:09'Matt's neck was broken in a rugby tackle.'
0:01:11 > 0:01:12I had a phone-call from my husband.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16He said that Matthew had been hurt. He'd got a neck injury
0:01:16 > 0:01:19and then he said he'd been air-lifted to hospital,
0:01:19 > 0:01:22by which stage I could feel my body starting to shake.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26We arrived at the hospital,
0:01:26 > 0:01:29they took me into a room and they said that it looked very serious.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33It was quite terrifying when the paramedics were
0:01:33 > 0:01:36asking me whether I could feel my toes and I couldn't,
0:01:36 > 0:01:39and they were asking me to move my fingers and I was trying
0:01:39 > 0:01:41and nothing was happening, you know.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43It hit me - it hit me like a smack in the face.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48I didn't need to be told that I'd broken my neck,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51that I'd never again be able to move my body
0:01:51 > 0:01:53and do the things I'd done for the first 17 years of my life.
0:01:53 > 0:01:58'Not only was Matt paralysed, the accident damaged his diaphragm
0:01:58 > 0:02:01'and left him dependent on a ventilator to breathe.'
0:02:02 > 0:02:05There are an estimated 40,000 people in the UK
0:02:05 > 0:02:08living with a spinal cord injury.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12And every single day more people suffer this life-changing injury.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15And I know how devastating it can be on a person's life.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17But there is a charity called Back Up
0:02:17 > 0:02:21that works to help and support people affected by a spinal injury.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27'Spinal cord injuries are not always just the result of a physical accident.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30'Sometimes it can happen totally out of blue.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33'Four years ago while in bed and alone in her flat,
0:02:33 > 0:02:37'Yasmin suddenly became aware that she couldn't feel her legs.'
0:02:37 > 0:02:41In the middle of the night I needed to go to the loo
0:02:41 > 0:02:43and I just couldn't go.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46And each time I went to the loo and back to bed
0:02:46 > 0:02:48my legs just got weaker and weaker.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51And I kept falling down, and then in the end
0:02:51 > 0:02:54I just couldn't get out of bed at all.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57And I just didn't realise what was happening.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03Within hours, I was paralysed.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05'Yasmin had suffered a stroke of the spinal cord.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08'She was just 29 years old.'
0:03:08 > 0:03:12I'd never heard of anyone becoming paralysed overnight.
0:03:12 > 0:03:17You know, just disbelief. I was a fit, healthy person, never smoked,
0:03:17 > 0:03:19went to the gym five days a week.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23I was the last person you'd expect for something like this to happen.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26'Not only does spinal cord injury cause paralysis,
0:03:26 > 0:03:30'other vital bodily functions are affected too.
0:03:30 > 0:03:32'Day to day care is often required.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36'The psychological impact on an individual can be huge.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39'Back Up recognises this and it works to help people deal with
0:03:39 > 0:03:43'the emotional impact of a spinal cord injury.'
0:03:43 > 0:03:45You lost about half your weight, didn't you?
0:03:45 > 0:03:48'After spending three weeks in intensive care,
0:03:48 > 0:03:50'Matt was transferred to the specialist spinal unit
0:03:50 > 0:03:53'at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.'
0:03:54 > 0:03:56That was the point I broke down.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00He couldn't talk, he was having to whisper everything.
0:04:00 > 0:04:05You can imagine a 17-year-old waking up, being told that he's paralysed from his neck down
0:04:05 > 0:04:07and not even able to talk to you.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09It was incredibly scary.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12I didn't know what I could do with my life - and I don't think anybody did.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16'It was while Matt was in hospital that he was told about
0:04:16 > 0:04:19'the rehab courses run by Back Up
0:04:19 > 0:04:23'where people with a spinal cord injury can try new activities, like skiing.'
0:04:23 > 0:04:26I thought because of my level of disability
0:04:26 > 0:04:28that I simply wouldn't be able to do it.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32'But he could through Back Up.'
0:04:34 > 0:04:39I never thought I'd be able to sit at the top of a ski run
0:04:39 > 0:04:42or go out nightclubbing with everybody
0:04:42 > 0:04:44and doing all the things that a 17 or 18 year old lad
0:04:44 > 0:04:47was meant to be doing.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49And that ski trip was truly incredible
0:04:49 > 0:04:53and I think it gave me the foundation to build on.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56'People who've had a spinal cord injury themselves
0:04:56 > 0:04:59'are best placed to help others through the experience,
0:04:59 > 0:05:02'and Back Up knows this. They run a mentoring scheme
0:05:02 > 0:05:04'where they pair up someone who's had a recent injury
0:05:04 > 0:05:06'or a family member with someone
0:05:06 > 0:05:09'who has already gone through the experience.'
0:05:09 > 0:05:12The mentors, I felt, you know, I could really relate to them.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14They were very helpful and they gave me hope.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19'One of the mentors suggested Yasmin go on one of Back Up's
0:05:19 > 0:05:22'scuba diving rehab courses to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.'
0:05:23 > 0:05:26The scuba diving was amazing.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29And honestly it was just beautiful under the water.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34You just feel free of your disability
0:05:34 > 0:05:35because it doesn't matter.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40Four years ago, if someone had said to you on your hospital bed,
0:05:40 > 0:05:44"You'll be throwing yourself out of a plane, you'll be waterskiing,
0:05:44 > 0:05:46"and back to work," I would not have believed her,
0:05:46 > 0:05:49I wouldn't have believed her in a million years.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51But honestly that is what Back Up have done for me.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55'Psychologically, activities like these make such a difference
0:05:55 > 0:05:58'to those of us with spinal injuries.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00But there is practical help at hand too.
0:06:00 > 0:06:04Has anybody got any ideas of how you'd push one-handed?
0:06:04 > 0:06:07Back Up run wheelchair skills sessions
0:06:07 > 0:06:10at 11 specialist spinal units across the UK.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12They're helping people to try to recover
0:06:12 > 0:06:15that all-important independence.
0:06:15 > 0:06:16You've all got a cone each.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19'Today, Sean and his team are running a session
0:06:19 > 0:06:21'for recently-injured patients.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23'Like all Back Up wheelchair skills trainers,
0:06:23 > 0:06:25'he's got a spinal cord injury himself.'
0:06:25 > 0:06:27The skills that we're teaching are really to
0:06:27 > 0:06:30build up people's confidence in using chairs,
0:06:30 > 0:06:32give them really practical skills
0:06:32 > 0:06:34that they're going to need in everyday life.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37So, we're going to be pushing, nice and steadily,
0:06:37 > 0:06:39flicking your castors up.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43That's it.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45When you've been in bed very frightened, very trapped,
0:06:45 > 0:06:49getting in into a chair and having the opportunity
0:06:49 > 0:06:53to make some independent decisions about which room you go into,
0:06:53 > 0:06:57who you talk to, which table you sit at is like a new beginning.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02'A year after Matt's accident,
0:07:02 > 0:07:05'he went back to school to complete his A levels
0:07:05 > 0:07:09'and then on to university where he got a 1st in his law degree.'
0:07:09 > 0:07:12I've recently started work as a trainee solicitor on London.
0:07:14 > 0:07:19I'm able to live in my own home with the support of a care team.
0:07:19 > 0:07:24I've completed two Great North Runs and the New York Marathon.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27And these are things that I never thought I'd be able to do.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29Matthew has just done so well,
0:07:29 > 0:07:33and to have achieved as much as he has now, I'm so proud of him.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40Back Up really can make a huge difference to people's lives,
0:07:40 > 0:07:44literally transforming them, and I've seen this with my own eyes.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46They need this work to continue.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49So, as someone who's personally had to deal with spinal cord injury,
0:07:49 > 0:07:52I'm asking you to donate to this appeal
0:07:52 > 0:07:55and help others in a similar situation.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00Please donate by going to the website - bbc.co.uk/lifeline.
0:08:00 > 0:08:06If you don't have access to the internet, then call 0800 011 011.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10And if you can't get through, then please, please keep trying.
0:08:10 > 0:08:16You can also donate £10 by texting the word "support" to 70121.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20Texts cost £10 plus your standard network message charge
0:08:20 > 0:08:23and the whole £10 goes to Back Up.
0:08:23 > 0:08:29Full terms and conditions can be found at bbc.co.uk/lifeline.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31Telephone calls are free from most landlines.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35Some networks and mobile operators will charge for these calls.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38Or if you'd like to post a donation, please make your cheque
0:08:38 > 0:08:43payable to Back Up and send it to Freepost, BBC Lifeline Appeal,
0:08:43 > 0:08:46writing "Back Up" on the back of the envelope.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48Remember, if you're a UK taxpayer,
0:08:48 > 0:08:52the charity can collect gift aid on your donation, worth another 25%.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55Just send in a note, to say you want your donation
0:08:55 > 0:08:57to be subject to Gift Aid
0:08:57 > 0:09:01and include the date, your full name and address.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03Thank you.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd