00:00Despite the welcome signs placed by family, Ruth Baitup says her house feels nothing like home.
00:0713 years ago, she was involved in a head-on car crash and was diagnosed with incomplete
00:14cord equina syndrome. She went to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Statemore,
00:21London for an operation this April, but despite the surgery going to plan, it left her unable
00:28to walk due to her body's reaction. As well as being a struggle to get around her house whilst
00:35living on her own, the event has had a massive mental impact. People don't understand you coming
00:44in to hear anybody. I'm like an aunt in a giant's castle. That's how it makes me feel and I
00:50can see
00:50the pain on my daughter's face and I've brought her up to, she's a giver, she's selfless. She was going
00:58to give her whole life up to come back to look after me. And my advice to her was take
01:04the world
01:04by both hands and run and be happy. And this is the hardest thing in my whole life that I've
01:13ever done.
01:13So far, Ruth can only reach this high in her fridge, which is where the milk cartons are,
01:20because she can't reach the rest because of her wheelchair. And until the adaptations are in place,
01:28she says she's gotten used to the feeling of being hungry. Data from the Spinal Injuries Association
01:35reveals that a person with a spinal cord injury is three times more likely to consider suicide
01:43than a person without a spinal cord injury. A spokesperson for the Royal National Orthopaedic
01:50Hospital NHS Trust said the organisation is committed to supporting the physical and mental health of its
01:58patients and has a range of professionals to help them. A friend of Ruth has set up a GoFundMe page
02:06to cover the cost of adaptations to the house, such as a stair lift, wet room, and a readjusted kitchen,
02:15showing Ruth that she's not in this fight alone. Henry Luck for KMTV in East Peckham.
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