Thirtieth year living with spinal cord injury

Thirty years post spinal cord injury. It has been a long journey. I got a little melancholic reading the article I wrote in The Borneo Post last week about this fateful day.

I am still paying the price for the mistake of diving into the swimming pool a long time ago. I am not complaining though. I have to live with the choices I made, good or bad.

A first-year medical student asked me recently if I regretted doing what I did that day.

“There is no point regretting,” I told him. “I cannot change what I have done.”

I may regret doing many things, or not doing others, but this, never. I can wallow in guilt or use the effort to deal with the emotions on more productive deeds.

Frankly, I never thought I would live to see this day but here I am. I have made it! I guess we can never know how far we can go even when we are living one day at a time.

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.