Meet Emma

Hi, I’m Emma.

I’m a writer and hydrogeologist from Melbourne, Australia.

Seventeen years ago after graduating from a B.A in Classics, I went to Canada to work at a ski resort while I worked out what to do with my life. I was a lift operator when I met Kev, the cute ski instructor who would eventually become my husband.

We’d been together for four years when he broke his back and became a paraplegic. His injury made it difficult to envision the life full of travel, hiking and skiing we had lived before, and we were unsure how to approach many of the activities we had previously enjoyed.

I found it very isolating as we both tried to adjust to the changes in our relationship and roles, friends sympathized, but they did not really understand. There were many resources designed to aid my husband to adapt to his new life in an urban environment, yet few for partners who also had to adapt to a vastly different future.

Information about getting back into nature or travelling shortly after a spinal injury was pretty much non-existent. After Kev was released from rehab, we spent six months in Australia attempting to salvage our relationship and life together, and my journal of that time evolved into a book.

Many books concerning spinal injuries are written from the perspective of the injured person, generally a man, and I desperately wanted to read about other women navigating difficulties similar to mine. Also, there are few stories about the time shortly after injury, and how to get through that difficult period, which I found incredibly challenging.

This blog was launched to share my story and I write about travelling, relationships, life, and oh yeah, spinal injuries.