UKC

32 year-old Dave Bowes from Kent was seriously injured in a road traffic accident in 2007 which left him brain-injured. Eight years on, he is still living with the consequences of the crash every day, yet he unreservedly dedicates his life to his family and to raising awareness for the charity Headway and hidden disabilities in general.

Dave tells his story of coming back to climbing after brain injury, and how it has helped him regain a sense of self and worthiness in the aftermath of a life-changing accident

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=6924

In reply to UKC Articles:

Interesting articles.

I have hidden disabilities, partly genetic and partly due to getting the cord around my neck at birth.

Got to go but will post more later if anyone is interested.

In reply to marsbar:

I also have invisible disabilities (Asperger's syndrome plus a few others), so would definitely be interested in hearing more more about the experiences of other climbers dealing with these issues.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Dave, I am sure the overwhelming majority of UKCers and my guess all UKCers, fully accept that your disabilities are no less real for being hidden and that your participation in paraclimbing competitions is completely legitimate. Just wanted to say that and I hope that lots of others on here will reassure you about those things.

In reply to slab_happy:

Sensory overload is probably the worst indoors. Too much noise, too many people, people telling me what to do, other climbers too near.

Coordination is an issue as well. I think climbing helps with that, but it is frustrating.

My need for regular breaks can be frustrating for others.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Nice. A friend of mine suffered serious head injuries in a traffic accident with ongoing symptoms. He's achieved some phenomenal things in his own sport (distance running) and I often forget what he's been through.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Great article. Dave is a really good friend of mine, what he has achieved is incredible. Best of luck to him and the rest of the team for this year!

In reply to marsbar:


Same for me. I can only really climb at indoor walls at off-peak times.

In reply to slab_happy:

When I lived in the Midlands it wasn't as bad. The London walls seem more crowded. One of the Nottingham walls has a separate room for groups, which you can use if its not being used by them, that was fantastic.

In reply to UKC Articles:

But one of the issues dealt with in the article is just how you can possibly compare the performance of someone with Aspergers with an amputee. That is so hard.

In reply to andyathome:


You don't have to, though, at least in the competition context.

Paraclimbing has different categories -- so, visually-impaired climbers, people with missing upper limbs, people with missing lower limbs, people with "neurological physical disabilities" (e.g. spinal cord injuries), etc. all compete against people with similar kinds of disabilities.

(There generally isn't an autistic spectrum category in international comps, I believe, though there's one in the British paraclimbing series.)

And obviously because disabilities vary in severity, there's often a points multiplier to try to reflect that, and/or categories get divided into two or more sub-groups by severity of impairment.

It's inevitably somewhat inexact and approximate at best, but the basic idea's there.