FOR many people, including me, when we become disabled we suddenly feel very vulnerable and less able to defend ourselves against any kind of aggression or injustice that may be directed towards us.

Becoming disabled has obviously been life-changing, but also life-changing in terms of my attitude towards achieving justice for myself and never allowing myself to be a doormat trampled down by anybody else.

As I lay in my hospital bed recovering from a massive brain haemorrhage that nearly killed me, I thought: “Okay. This is life number two and what will I do to change from how I was in life number one?”

After much careful thought and consideration as I began my rehabilitation and learning to talk/walk etc, I decided that in life number one I was far too soft and didn’t defend myself stoutly enough and that from now on I was going to be much tougher and never let myself be the target of an injustice of any kind.

In addition to that, after becoming visually impaired, I began listening to audiobooks, which was a great way to pass time during my rehabilitation.

I gained a massive, and probably life-changing, inspiration to achieve justice for myself from one of the first books I listen to, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, in which the lead character, Salander, is undoubtedly a very vulnerable person, who fights back with great intensity and doesn’t take any grief from anyone without letting them feel her wrath afterwards.

In fact it’s true to say that it was largely the inspiration from Salander that gave me the strength to take my former employers to an employment tribunal after they discriminated against me by not allowing me to return to work when able.

On several other occasions, including in a nasty argument with a neighbour, I have also defended myself without violence in a way that I never would have done before my injury.

It’s so important to me not to forget this inspiration and lesson that I have learned that I’m seriously thinking of having a dragon tattooed on my left calf to remind me forever not to be a weak and defenceless disabled person.

Tattoos seem to be very trendy at the moment and just about everybody seems to have one. But personally I’ve never been particularly trendy and have never really fancied having a tattoo.

However, in addition to the inspiration of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, I also have the added advantage, if you can say that, that I don’t feel very much in my left leg, and so if I had the tattoo there it would probably be quite painless!

If you are disabled person who feels that you have become tougher and more resilient since becoming disabled, I would really like to hear from you.

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