Scotland Outdoors

Karen Darke's life changed dramatically after a fall. In an article written for Scotland Outdoors, she reveals how she has refused to let her injuries hamper her love of the outdoors.

I was a keen runner and mountaineer before becoming paralysed in a rock-climbing accident on Aberdeen sea cliffs. My whole life changed in a moment. It was difficult at first, to adapt to being paralysed, but I saw, more closely through the death of a close friend, also in a climbing accident, that I had to make the most of being alive and being able to move at least some of my body.

At first I wondered if I would have to leave the outdoors behind for a life in the man-made world where access might be easier, but I couldn't lose my fervour for being outdoors.

I've since pursued alternative ways to access the wilderness – canoeing, skiing, and hand-cycling. My first big adventure was a journey through Central Asia to raise money for a charity that helped me to get back into the mountains (Scotland's Alternative Skiers, which has now merged with Disability Snowsport).

That adventure, the “Himalayan Hand-cycle”, took me and three friends over a thousand miles from Kyrgyzstan across the Tien Shan and Karakoram mountain ranges via China, to Pakistan. It was an incredible journey, which helped me realise that we can do far more than we might think, if we are willing to try.

I've since cycled the length of the Japanese archipelago and co-organised expeditions sea kayaking along the coastlines of British Columbia and Alaska; skiing across the Greenland icecap in a sit-ski propelled by my arms, and climbing the huge granite wall of El Capitan, almost 1000m high, by doing pull-ups with my arms.

People often ask me if I would do these things if I wasn't paralysed. I've always enjoyed adventure, pushing my boundaries, and being in the outdoors as part of a team. I don't think that paralysis has changed that, but I have had to change the way I do things.

Sometimes people seem surprised that I've done these things and am paralysed from the chest down. I have to remember that I was surprised at first too. In the beginning I didn't think I could do these things, but it was just because I hadn't tried. With good friends, specialist equipment, support and enthusiasm a lot has been possible.

I wrote my book "If You Fall” to share some of my experiences, and hopefully give other people some hope and a chance to reflect on their experiences.

Difficult things happen to all of us. I just happen to have been paralysed, but the challenges involved in 'overcoming' this life change are, I believe, little different from the challenges that face us all when difficult things happen to us.

More about Karen

Karen's book, 'If You Fall', was published by O-books in October 2006. Her second, 'Dizzy Fingers', about her two most recent adventures, should be available in 2009.

Karen Darke was interviewed by Mark Stephen for the programme Turning Point, which was broadcast in December 2007.

Page first published on Wednesday 5th December 2007
Page last updated on Tuesday 21st October 2008