Woman paralysed when she dived into a pool on holiday fights back

A woman who "hit rock bottom" after being paralysed when she dived into a pool now wants to show others "it can get better".

Jenna Fitzgerald, 37, is now training to become a psychologist after she became paralysed from the chest down after diving into a pool on holiday in Nerja, Spain.

She had been at the after-party of a friend's wedding when it happened and was rushed for emergency spinal surgeries.

Jenna had to re-learn to talk and eat but was told she would never walk again.

The years that followed saw her become depressed and even attempt to take her own life in July 2017 because she felt "imprisoned" in her own body.

But after waking up in intensive care following the attempt, she vowed to make the most of her second chance at life.

Now she has taken the leap and enrolled in a degree course with the aim of becoming a psychologist.

While she got good mental health support, she felt her counsellors "didn't quite get it" because they hadn't been through anything like her.

Jenna hopes she will one day be able to help others going through struggles because she has experienced her own "rock bottom".

Jenna, a full-time student, from County Sligo, Ireland, said: "I still remember the smash as I hit the pool, then I couldn't move and I was swallowing water.

"I had to learn how to eat, breathe and speak again but when I got back to my own apartment I realised my life was completely different.

"I put on a brave face, and I would laugh and smile, but I wasn't happy at all. I was dying inside.

"I felt like I had nothing left to live for.

"But after that, I realised I had to work on myself, take the help, and say yes to everything. There was no other plan.

"Now I've come so far - I know I'll never walk again but I can lead a happy life.

"I hit rock bottom and now I want to help others because I don't want anyone else to feel like that."

Jenna was at a villa following a friend's wedding in September 2014, when she dived into the pool without realising how shallow it was.

She hit the bottom head first - shattering her C5 vertebrae and fractured the C6 and C7 in her neck.

She was awake but unable to move, and her friend leapt into the pool to save her.

She had a number of surgeries, including stabilising her vertebrae with a titanium plate and screws, and needed a tracheostomy and a ventilator.

Jenna said: "I had to learn how to breathe, eat and speak again - I couldn't speak for several weeks."

When she got back to Ireland she needed months of rehabilitation and was discharged from the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH), Dublin, in May 2015.

She needed carers to help get up in the morning, had to learn how to manage her neurogenic bowels and bladder, and needed thousands of pounds of adaptations to make her home wheelchair-friendly.

Her golden retriever, Cooper, who she owned before the accident, was sent away to be re-trained as a service dog so he could help her.