Tayla Stone: Life as a Paraplegic

In 2010 Tayla Stone's life was flipped upside down following a dirt bike accident which left her paralysed and a future as a T12 incomplete paraplegic. Her whole life changed in an instant.  Then in 2015, Tayla lost one of her strongest supporters - her Mother.  Tayla's first hand experience of hardship and challenges have enabled her to draw on her inner strength and to design a life of purpose.  She continues to train her body physically, and to build up her strength.  Whilst she says she expects nothing from her future, she gives life her all and focusses on seeing the good with the not-so-good.

Some key quotes from our conversation include:

• So what, I'm a paraplegic.  It doesn't mean anything.  Things could be a lot worse(8:05)
• One day I just woke up and thought, 'just get over yourself' basically (8:10)
• I'm just trying to see the good in it, to see the funny side with being paralysed (8:42)
• Having that sense of humour helped heaps, because it wasn't all doom and gloom (9:47)
• There are limitations, but there are always limitations, no matter what in life (12:17)
• Because you are paralysed, you can't do this, you can't do that...so I was already telling myself I can't do those things, but really, I can... (12:52)
• It's focusing in on what you can do, and not putting limitations on yourself (13:27)
• As soon as something bad happens to you, your brain automatically goes straight to the negative side (14:02)
• Try not to get buried in that negative hole (14:19)
• The doctor sat down and told me that I had 5% chance to walk again ( 16:45)
• I hated everything at the time (17:00)
• A couple of years later, it just clicked.  I woke up one morning and thought what was the point about being depressed about it? (17:41)
• Well maybe I'm just going to live a positive life, but be thankful I had a second chance at it. ( 18:20)  
• I could sit there for the rest of my life, and always focus on that, but by doing that I'm not actually moving on with my new life (18:53) 
• If you just keep going, and you don't focus on the negative things, the positive things just come naturally. ( 20:08)

You can find more of Tayla at:
web - https://lifeasaparaplegic.squarespace.com
Facebook - www.facebook.com/lifeasaparaplegic