Immer wieder gibt es einschneidende Ereignisse, die das Leben verändern können. Leider sind diese nicht vorhersehbar und schon gar nicht in jedem Fall positiv. Was allerdings entscheidend ist, ist nach vorne zu schauen und das Beste daraus zu machen.
Diese Maxime nahm sich Emma Carey nach einem Unfall bei einem Tandemfallschirmsprung in den Schweizer Alpen zu Herzen. Im Juni 2013 verwickelte sich ihr Fallschirm mit dem Körper ihres Sprungpartners.
Carey hatte allerdings Glück im Unglück und überlebte den Unfall, wenn auch mit zahlreichen Knochenbrüchen. Die Ärzte waren sich sicher, dass Carey nicht mehr würde laufen können. Nach etwa dreieinhalb Jahren im Rollstuhl hat sich diese Vermutung allerdings als falsch herausgestellt. Sie lernte wieder das Laufen und konnte wieder ihren Alltag aufnehmen.
I used to post photos like this because I thought it was the best way to visually show you guys my progress. I’m realising now while I'm in the middle of my ‘what the heck is this year’ moment, that these photos really don’t show you much at all. This puts the focus on the fact that I learnt to walk again, and don’t get me wrong I am eternally grateful for that ability, but learning to walk definitely wasn’t the hardest part of all of this. I feel like with every kind of transformation, the focus is always on the ‘big moment’ and it’s usually only when that big moment arrives that people commend you. When in reality, the hardest part is never the thing that people see, it's never the thing that people assume, it’s all of the progress we make when nobody else is watching. It’s the tiny things you do silently that nobody else ever needs to know about. It’s driving yourself to all of your appointments and spending hours in waiting rooms. It’s getting out of bed when you are emotionally exhausted. It's laughing with strangers when inside your heart is breaking. It's forcing yourself to stay in your wheelchair when your mind is begging you to use your legs. I’m not just talking about me here though, I’m talking about every single one of us and the things we do every day to help ourselves. Be proud of all of the things you do on your way to your big moment. You don't need to share them with thousands of people on Instagram, you don't even need to share them with your family and friends… share them with yourself. Maybe today you brushed your hair after not looking after yourself for weeks, maybe today you made small talk with a stranger after years of being too nervous, maybe today you left the house. Whatever it is, own it and be proud of it. The thing about progress is that it's something nobody else needs to understand. Something that might seem tiny to someone else, might be the biggest achievement you've had all year and that is more than ok. I'm so proud of this photo but this isn't my story. I kind of like that each of us have our own secret battles and achievements going on inside of us. I kind of like that we get to be proud of ourselves without applause.
A post shared by EMMA CAREY (@em_carey) on Aug 1, 2017 at 4:04am PDT
Eine Sache kann die 25-Jährige allerdings nicht verbergen: Ihre Inkontinenz. Anfangs schämte sie sich davor und teilte es jedem in den ersten zehn Minuten eines Treffens mit. Inzwischen stört es Carey nicht mehr. Denn den Tod und die Depression nach ihrem Sturz überwunden zu haben, sind es ihr wert. Ihre neugewonnene Kraft und ihr Selbstbewusstsein teilt sie mit ihren 129.000 Followern auf Instagram.
I’ve seen this photo floating around the internet lately so thought I’d take a moment to chat about my pee covered pants. This is what I look like every. single. day. Multiple times a day. I think because I can walk, people tend to think I have completely recovered from my spinal cord injury but the truth is I still have many lasting effects, one of them being that I am completely incontinent with both my bladder and bowels. At first I was so embarrassed by this and tried to keep it a secret. I didn’t leave the house because I was so worried that people would find out. I wouldn’t tell anyone why I had to be near a toilet at all times. I wouldn’t let anyone see my catheters or pads. I would run away and hide every time I had an accident. It was exhausting trying to keep it a secret, so instead I just didn’t let anyone close to me. It wasn’t long until I realised that if I was going to get upset and angry every time I peed myself, it would mean that I would be upset and angry every single day of my life. For the rest of my life. And that’s when it hit me.. I survived a bloody skydiving accident. I don’t know how or why but I know that it certainly wasn’t to live a depressing life. I owed myself way more than that. Now it’s five years later and I don’t think I have a single friend that hasn’t seen me pee. I tell people about my incontinence generally within 10 minutes of meeting them. And now I’m posting a picture of my pee covered pants to over 100,000 people without a second thought. The point of this isn’t for sympathy or for praise, it’s to show you that it is completely and entirely possible to not give a single sh*t about the things that people expect you to care about. Just because we have grown up to believe that certain things are taboo or shouldn’t be spoken about, doesn’t mean that they are. Just because people think you should feel embarrassed about something, doesn’t mean you need to. Just because people might judge you on a certain thing, doesn’t mean you need to care. How you feel about certain situations is entirely up to you. If you own your life and all your ‘flaws’, they will never be able to own you. It’s the most freeing thing in the world.
A post shared by EMMA CAREY (@em_carey) on May 31, 2018 at 3:49am PDT
Mit diesem Foto mag Carey zwar einen Tabubruch begehen, doch im Leben geht es für sie nur um eins: Gesund und glücklich zu sein.
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