The 'accident'

 A lot of people already know this story. Whether you do or you don't know it, I think it's important that this story is accessible to everyone.

September 2018: the month where it all happened. 

Oxford

The beginning of this month couldn't be any better. We went to Oxford with school. I was 15 years old at this point; traveling with friends and kind of 'on your own' (that's what it partly felt like) was like a dream coming true. 

I literally had one of the best weeks of my entire life. I stayed with a host family with two of my best friends. If we weren't at the house of the host family, we were with our group from school. Besides the mandatory activities - which were all fun to do - school gave us some spare time in the city of Oxford. Being with friends, alone, in a city abroad; it was amazing. The hours we spent in the bus to travel from the one place to another, were simply the best ones. 

If I knew I would've been infected with the meningococcal bacteria, I would have never made the choice to go to Oxford.  But hey, that's the past, and unfortunately we can't change that anymore. I wish I had the choice to get myself vaccinated.

Back home

About a week after we returned from Oxford, I started to feel a little ill. I still went to school, because I did not have a fever (yet). I felt more and more ill as the days continued. At a certain point it was so bad that we went to see a doctor. In the waiting room I was super dizzy. I kept sweating and just couldn't handle it any longer. The doctor asked some questions and sent me home because my answers were just 'normal', I didn't talk weird and there were no symptoms of a meningitis. 

When we arrived back home, everything went very, very fast. My dad came upstairs to check how I was doing. He said something... couldn't hear it. 'Say it again dad?'.... couldn't hear it. 'Dad, I can't hear you'...

My dad went downstairs and scanned the internet; sudden hearing loss was everything besides normal, so he decided to call a doctor. The doctor instantly sent a paramedic and the paramedics took me to the hospital (I can't remember this anymore). As soon as we arrived at the hospital, I went into a coma for the next week.

I woke up. Looked around me. Huh, I can't see anything? 'Can somebody please turn the lights on!?'. Nothing. 'Where am I?'. Nothing. 

The last thing I remembered was lying in my bed, in my own bed. Now, I was deaf, couldn't see anything and didn't feel anything from my belly button down. Couldn't move my legs.

I suffered a meningitis, which caused the deafness. The infection went down to my spinal cord which caused a spinal cord injury (T-9, incomplete).

This is what happened to me. I used to be a 'normal' (what's normal?) boy who played football (soccer) three times a week, and suddenly, I was paralyzed from the waist down combined with being deaf. My sight came back, but these limitations will never go away (unfortunately). 

They changed me. As a person physically, yes, but also mentally. I think I can say I 'grew up' in a very short period, my mindset changed a lot. 

I started to miss all the 'little' things in life, such as riding your bike to go to the grocery store, just cycle to school and game with your friends after. All the 'normal' things we take for granted. But actually, all these 'normal' things, are so incredible to have!

What I want to let you know is very simple. Just don't take everything for granted (such as being a healthy person). Life is something special. It's short, so make the best out of it!

Terry