Fractured Fozz

                I had never broken any bone in my body. Until a couple of weeks ago, I had never had a fracture or sprained anything properly; I was an X-ray virgin. So when a severe sprain in netball training turned into a painful chip of the bone- a part of me was actually kind of excited. Missing the couple of days off school for hospital appointments seemed pretty appealing, choosing a colour for my cast appeared to be fun and the thought of several weeks lying on the sofa watching netflix was seriously awesome. Then, when I went on to learn that we were going to hire a wheelchair to get me round at a quicker pace, I was so happy thinking about all the fun I would have rolling around everywhere.

                However the novelty wore off pretty soon. It took me approximately 24 hours to completely 180 spin on my opinion and wish I could rip off the plastic prison that my leg was encased in. Firstly, hardly anywhere is wheelchair friendly. Every ramp is too steep and every pavement is too bumpy and numerous times an entire slab has come loose and occasionally even popped out while I was wheeling past which is not only annoying and possibly harmful to me but frustrating for whoever is wheeling me around.

                The other problem with being in a chair in public is other people. I've always made it a point to never stare and possibly offend someone in a wheelchair or crutches as I thought they would not want the unnecessary extra attention, however I found most people seemingly purposely avoid my gaze and look straight ahead which surprisingly made me feel dehumanized as if I was unworthy of having eye contact with everybody else. It wasn't their fault of course, they obviously weren't trying to offend me on purpose, but I had never realised how much effect eye contact had on how included I felt in the space around me.  

                Secondly, I felt ostracised by how I couldn't participate in daily occurrences. I couldn't hang out with my family for our little catch ups in the kitchen before dinner as by the time I had got up from the sofa, put on my crutches and dodged various obstacles in my path during the initial pain of walking, the conversation was over. I couldn't go to meet ups with friends due to the unknown variable of whether there would be stairs or whether anyone would want to go through the infuriating agony of wheeling me anywhere. I couldn't go to a concert as I would have to either "sit in the foyer if I got tired" or exhaustingly "just lean on the wall" which sounded to me like a disappointing night.

                I could go on about the bruises on my arms that I obtained from my crutches, how uncomfortable it is sleeping with a bulging calf or even how it seemed like an aching uphill trek just to reach the TV remote on the other side of the room for the first couple of days. However, by the time this is published, I will have hopefully had my cast removed and I'll be back to my fully able bodied self. But I will do my utmost best to remember how exasperating all of this was and use my incredibly brief and insultingly tiny injury to develop sympathy towards those who are sadly in a more permanent state than I am and actively make adjustments  to my behaviour and the environment around us to make it as comfortable  and inclusive to those not as fortunate as myself.
If there's anything that I've learned, it's that the fun wears off quicker than the pain killers.

Fozz.
N.B.- This is present me and I am out of my cast! The rehabilitation is intense though and the pain is still constant. Working on a list of points to take to Student Parliament to improve the school environment to make it easier for those in a similar or worse situation than I am.