Tutor Focus - Sally Wallace 

Many of us talk of taking the right or wrong fork in the road as we journey through life; most never know whether we made the right choice or not. For Sally Wallace, the fork she took - on her bicycle, on a track in France - was the wrong one, leaving her paralysed from the chest down and faced with a life in a wheelchair.

Sally, 37, a School Sports Co-ordinator for two secondary and eight primary schools, was on a leisurely bike ride with her boyfriend, heading back to their apartment after a day by the sea. He forked left, Sally went to the right, hit a hidden trench, flew over the handlebars and fell badly. She was rushed by ambulance to hospital, and then by helicopter to a specialist spinal hospital in Montpelier.

"I knew straight away that I couldn't feel my legs. The day after my accident I was told that I would never walk again... in French! Luckily, I did A-level French as no-one spoke English in the hospital."

From Montpelier, Sally was flown by air ambulance to Liverpool, and then onto Southport Spinal Unit, where she spent the next six months learning how to live her new life in a wheelchair.

Sally was positive in her recovery - as you might expect from someone who says she was 'lucky' to understand the news of permanent disability in French: "Getting back to work has given me a real sense of achievement, and when I look back at how far I've come and what I've achieved, this helps me move forward. I have gone from lying in intensive care not being able to move except for my arms and head - not even being able to sit up, to being independent - driving my own car, living independently at home, going shopping and going to work and being successful in my job again."

Sally works from Priory Sports and Technology Centre, Penwortham, Preston, and their five link primary schools.

"I work co-ordinating sport and PE for my secondary school and their five link primary schools. I organise new opportunities in sport, organise primary link teachers to go on Sports' INSET, arrange community coaches, organise festivals, give specialist support to primaries and I run the Sports Leaders UK Level 1 Award in Sports Leadership at Priory. No day at work is ever the same - and that's one of the things I love about it."

Sally is a big fan of Sports Leaders UK awards and qualifications: "We have a very strong Sports Leaders' cohort every year. This year we have about 65% of all Year 10 pupils taking part on the course. Each year we work with a local primary school - Penwortham County Primary. Their Year 3 and Year 5 children come over every week from January until July, and they are taught by our boy and girl leaders - rugby and badminton respectively. As well as the PE lessons, our Sports Leaders take part in the annual Festival of Sport. This year we are holding a Festival of Sport and Dance, and we are expecting a large number of primary school pupils to participate."

Getting back to work has been an important part of Sally's recovery process, which has involved both physical and mental aspects.

"Physically - I was assessed by the county occupational therapists and they looked at the accessibility of my school. I also had 'Access to Work' help me out with providing various aids to make my life at work easier, such as an electric adjustable desk, a bike attachment - so that I could access the sports fields, and a lightweight netbook.

Mentally - I was confident that my job would help my self-esteem and give me a chance to 'forget' about my disability, and focus on my job and the needs of others above myself. I think when you have a disability you can sometimes get hung up on that, and sometimes it's good to have something else to think about and focus on."

And, of course, it is both the physical and mental aspects of Sports Leaders UK awards and qualifications that make them so useful.

"I wouldn't have taken on board looking after the Level 1 Award in Sports Leadership at Priory if I did not believe its massive worth. I believe that leadership skills and qualities are important in every aspect of life, and that it is also open to everyone - not just the talented sports people in the school. We encourage as many pupils as possible to take part in the qualification, and take time to prepare a Sports Leaders presentation for all the Year 10s at the beginning of the school year. We also stress that it is open to everyone, and that you don't have to be good at sports to take part. We often find our best leaders are not necessarily the best sports people. We also use the DVD provided to show our pupils, and after seeing this they often change their mind and decide they want to take part. It is also good to see some of our more 'challenged' pupils really shining in their role as a leader."

Sally's work schedule means that she no longer directly delivers the Sports Leaders UK Level 1 Award in Sports Leadership: "But I still have a very active role in the delivery of the qualification. I perform the internal verifications along with the Head of PE, and also go in informally to see how pupils are getting on. I work closely with the PE Department regarding the delivery and assessment."

Sally is classed as a T4 paraplegic complete, meaning she is paralysed from the thoracic 4 bone in her spine, with very limited stability, and no core muscle stability: "However, I have my arms and my head, and I make sure that I put those to good and effective use," she says.

Part of that use has been to tell her story in school assemblies where she has worked as an able-bodied teacher. It is an inspirational story and the telling of it has been cathartic for Sally herself: "The real 'recovery' was when I left hospital and had to live a 'normal' life. That has been the hardest struggle. Going back to work has been a real focus and has helped distract me from many things. It has also helped me get back to 'normal'.

I haven't found any problems at all because of my disability. A lot of this is due to the fact that I have a very supportive department and school. I also believe strongly in the adage - where there's a will, there's a way. Next year I am hoping to tutor again, if there is space in my schedule!

I don't think that disability should affect the delivery the Sports Leaders UK awards and qualifications, or taking part in them. I think that the more awareness there is about 'disability' the better it is for everyone. We live in a progressively accepting society and I think people generally look beyond the disability and see the person - well, I hope that they do with me! And if they don't, then I make sure I show them how to!"

June 2009