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A Life Less Vertical

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BBC Radio 4 - A Life Less Vertical

Melanie Reid reunites with her ward mates, a decade after becoming tetraplegic.

A decade after breaking her back, The Times journalist Melanie Reid finds out what has become of the unlikely friends she made on the spinal ward in Glasgow.

When Melanie Reid spent a year recovering on the spinal ward in Glasgow after falling off a horse, her world collided with an unlikely collection of ordinary people with incredible stories. Despite their only common ground being a newly broken body, Mel grew close to her ward mates. She sets out to discover what became of them. 

Danielle was just a 15 year-old school girl, a car crash victim whose spine was crushed by her own seatbelt. She was the first person to utter words to a heavily medicated Melanie. Danielle’s buddy, Daniel, was a year older and hiding a dark secret. 

Karen's story is more similar to Melanie's, but her outlook is very different. Her passivity has always fascinated Melanie - can she learn anything from it? 

David sat down for a flight and found, when it landed, he couldn’t stand up.  Sammi, was crushed by a fork lift on the family farm - but has now reinvented herself as a top athlete. 

The ten years that have passed have changed them all, and Melanie reflects on the different ways that they've experienced and adapted to the life less vertical.

Presenter: Melanie Reid
Producer:	 Leeanne Coyle
Executive Producers: Robert Nicholson & Mark Rickards
A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4

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