How man paralysed from neck down in car crash is helping others with spinal injuries through Quad-Rebuild charity

Joseph English didn’t have one visible injury to his face or body when he found himself a passenger in a car accident back in November of 2017.

But the catastrophic crash changed his life, leaving him with severe spinal injuries and paralysed from the neck down.

Nearly five years on, Joe, from Halifax, is helping others with spinal injuries to “take back control of their future and create a new journey”, as he focuses on developing the impact of his charity Quad-Rebuild, which grew out of his own experiences of rehabilitation.

Joe was airlifted to Leeds General Infirmary, where he spent seven weeks in intensive care. He was then transferred to the Princess Royal Spinal Cord Injuries Centre at Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital, a unit where he would spend the next 11 months of his life.

“It was extremely difficult, waking up in intensive care and you can’t move your neck,” the 32-year-old says.

“People are stroking your head and you’re trying to look around using your eyes. You’re under that much sedation that you’re kind of hallucinating at the same time but then when you start coming around a little bit more, it’s really difficult.

“You have family coming for a couple of hours a day, then you’re on your own staring at a ceiling with blue curtains either side of you not knowing how to get through the next hour even.

“Losing the ability to move myself was extremely difficult. I had to rely on someone to scratch an itch, bring me a drink, help me with food, and that took at least a couple of years to even comprehend.

“I was a very angry person when it first happened to me, extremely volatile towards nurses, demanding things there and then, and I was like that with my family as well, pushing them away a bit…

“When I look back now and see how far I’ve come from where I was then, it’s amazing to see the transition.”

Joe’s own journey has inspired him to help others. Quad-Rebuild aims to support people in a similar position, rebuilding the lives of those that have spinal cord injuries as a result of an accident.

Its aim is to raise funds to help mentor those individuals, adapt their homes, rebuild their confidence and support them to adjust back into society.

“Life doesn’t end after (the injuries),” Joe says. “It changes and modifies and it’s about learning to adapt and deal with those changes and our charity can help with that.”

Quad Re-build is founded around four mottos – rebuilding lives, rebuilding homes, rebuilding your image and rebuilding your future.

The former focuses on mentorship and sees trained mentors attending hospitals to support patients during rehabilitation.

It grew out of Joe’s experience of dealing with extreme physical and mental lows while being hit with continuous difficulties as he learnt how to look after his body as a quadriplegic.

Rebuilding homes stems from his passion for construction, which runs in his family.

From a young age, he would sit by his father in a mini digger helping with home improvements and he then founded his own construction company at the age of 20.

Home adaptations are among the charity’s work, which is aimed both at reducing the amount of time people spend in hospital but also improving mental wellbeing by making familiar spaces safe and accessible.

“It’s a big step when you go home,” Joe says. “You get so used to being in the rehabilitation unit and it becomes your safety net.

“When you’re told to prepare for going home, it’s a massive change because you’re used to having nurses looking after you and now you’re going out into public.

“It’s another stage again trying to get used to adapting at home, and working with carers to look after yourself properly.”

He adds: “Discharge was an extremely difficult time for me trying to adjust to new ventilators and prepare myself and my care team for life at home, as well as dealing with the anxiety of being away from the hospital for the first time in 12 months should anything go wrong... It was a difficult transition moving home into the community.”

The charity’s third motto, rebuilding your image, is around self-acceptance, self-image and self-confidence and helping people to be “at peace” with their injuries and themselves, Joe says.

“The hardest thing to do in rehabilitation is to accept the injury that has been caused and have the ability to feel good about yourself.”

The final piece of the jigsaw is helping individuals to integrate back into their communities, supporting them to build confidence around activities such as shopping, eating out, holidaying and socialising.

But it’s not just about the individuals with injuries either, Joe says. The charity helps their families too, offering listening and advice services. “We help the person but also help their family as well,” he says.

It’s been a challenging five years for Joe to reach the point he is at now – but he’s determined to make a difference to others on that road.

“I am now living in a beautiful home with all the knowledge and experience I need to take care of myself, along with the chance to change thousands of people’s lives whilst living my life to the fullest,” he says.

“A spinal cord injury is absolutely life changing. And we really want to make a difference and help others through it.”

Joe has big plans for Quad-Rebuild; though much of its work at the minute is Yorkshire based, he hopes to make it a national charity, supporting people all over the country.

He sees a future of helping thousands of people with their own rehabilitation, whilst also supporting his own growth and development through changing people’s lives.

Since Joe left the rehabilitation centre in 2018, he has completed a master’s degree in business admin, obtained a charity number for Quad-Rebuild and bought and renovated his own home to meet his needs.

He is also writing a book about his story with the involvement of his friends, family and specialists and proceeds will be donated to Quad-Rebuild to help others.

Visit www.quad-rebuild.co.uk for more information on the charity.