29th Anniversary of My Spinal Cord Injury

I broke my neck twenty nine years ago today. Life is looking bright on one aspect yet dim on another. After eight years working to make society inclusive, I have finally pulled it all together to establish a company that provides Disability Equality Training (DET). This is to give what I do an official and organised semblance. Peter Tan Training was registered with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) on 30th August.

On the other hand, my serum creatinine has breached the 300 umol/L level at the beginning of the year and has been steadily creeping up the scale since. This is an indication the declining health of my kidneys. The nephrologists that I have been seeing at University of Malaya Medical Centre since the beginning of the year have encouraged me to go for a dialysis orientation to prepare me for the eventuality. There is not much I can do on my part except to continue with my low-protein diet and intermittent catheterisation.

Life must go on nonetheless. I foresee conducting more travelling around the country to conduct DET workshops. There is a great need to sensitise the Malaysian public on the need to break attitudinal and environmental barriers and ensure that everyone can achieve equal participation in society. And I must say that I am enjoying it, especially when the participants realise that the problems faced by disabled persons are manmade and that there are multiple solutions to solving it.

Here is a toast to surviving spinal cord injury for twenty nine years. I had never expected to live this long and do the things that I am doing now. It had not been an easy journey but I made it anyway. I am thankful for all the good things that have been coming my way. The bad ones taught me to be wiser and stronger. What more can I say? Life has been good of late and I am truly grateful to be still alive and able to do what I love.

Author: Peter Tan

Peter Gabriel Tan. Penangite residing in the Klang Valley. Blissfully married to Wuan. A LaSallian through and through. Slave to three cats. Wheelchair user since 1984. End-stage renal disease since 2017. Principal Facilitator at Peter Tan Training specialising in Disability Equality Training. Former columnist of Breaking Barriers with The Borneo Post. This blog chronicles my life, thoughts and opinions. Connect with me on Twitter and Facebook.