"I REMEMBER the first time a family member took me outside the hospital and I felt air on my skin. When you suffer a spinal injury and are really struggling to comprehend what has happened to you, to feel air and smell nature around you is so therapeutic."
These are the words of Co Armagh man Allister MacSorley, who four years ago suffered life-changing injuries in a motorcycle collision, which left him paralysed from the waist down.
Allister spent almost six months in hospital and was grateful for any opportunity to escape the clinical environment and get a breath of fresh air.
He is delighted about an ambitious project to create a multi-sensory garden at Belfast's Musgrave Park Hospital to help patients with spinal injuries who are undergoing long-term rehabilitation.
It is being created by the charity Horatio's Garden, which specialises in gardens in hospital settings for spinal injury patients. It will be the first in Northern Ireland, the seventh in the UK and the first to have a dedicated Boccia court.
Other plans also include: a warm garden room that can be used all-year round; a barbecue area; a water feature; sheltered areas and pods where patients can meet visitors in privacy; a recreation area that will provide space for patients to practice wheelchair skills; a large greenhouse with wheelchair accessible shelving; and a kitchen designed for patients to use independently and safely.
Dr Olivia Chapple is the founder and chair of the trustees of Horatio's Garden charity, which was established following the death of her eldest son Horatio, when he was 17-years-old.
Horatio had been a volunteer in a spinal injury centre in Salisbury and his ideas and patient research formed the principal objectives of the charity.
"I am proud Horatio's legacy continues to help patients and their families with the long process of learning to live with a spinal cord injury. Research shows that having access to nature and green spaces significantly improves mental health and the physical rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord injuries," says Olivia.
"For Musgrave Park Hospital, Horatio's Garden will bring a social and recreational area, offering people the chance to enjoy horticultural therapy, a host of creative workshops, live music and seasonal events. It will have many healing benefits."
These views are echoed by Dr Suzanne Maguire, consultant in rehabilitation at Musgrave Park Hospital.
"The spinal unit has been here at Musgrave Park since the 1960s. It's quite a small area and Covid highlighted to us how patients really need and benefit from getting outdoors and having the space to spend time with their families," she says.
"Anyone who comes to us is dealing with an immense change to their lives. Having a Horatio's Garden would transform their rehab experience here and have huge psychological benefits.
"We are based on the ground floor and the plan is that we will have double doors bringing the outdoors in and letting them see nature, as well as enabling them to get outside to practice physical and wheelchair skills."
Nine-time RHS Chelsea gold medallist Andy Sturgeon is the designer of the Musgrave Park Garden, which will wrap around the 23-bed spinal cord injuries unit.
Dr Maguire and Allister MacSorley were among the staff and former patients involved in the design process, giving input on what they would find most useful in an outdoor space.
"For me that would be a place where you could have a bit of privacy, alone or with family," said Allister.
"So much has changed, so you need to have frank discussions with loved ones, as well as sort out things like getting a blue badge with your social worker. Horatio's Garden is going to be way more private than a blue curtain around your bedside."
Allister also struggled with the constant beeping of machines, blaring of television sets and snoring from fellow-patients.
"When you are stuck inside a ward where there is very little stimulation and cognitive function can be impaired. To be able to get outside and do something achievable, like gardening, rather than trying to virtually help your mind escape, would have been incredible," he says.
"I've been a mountain biker all of my life and take a lot from nature and wildlife and to be amongst the garden like this would have made my recovery in hospital a lot easier," adds Allister, who just weeks after his discharge was tackling an 8km off-road trail on his wheelchair at his local park, Gosford Forest Park.
It was while riding as a mobile paramedic at the Armoy Road Races in 2018 that Allister's accident happened. Rain had put the race meeting in jeopardy and he was involved in an inspection lap to assess the conditions.
Two unsighted vehicles stopped just over the blind crest of a hill, leaving him with just yards to stop - but on the wet road, that was impossible.
Although struggling with a loss of identity and independence, Allister was remarkably positive following his life-threatening accident and says his medical background helped him deal with his injuries.
"When I opened my eyes and mum and dad talked to me I remember thinking I could figure out where I was and what happened to me, so that meant my brain was OK," he recalls.
"I've seen plenty of horrific brain injuries in my career, so I just thought I don't know what condition the body is in, but I will deal with that when we get to it."
Allister, who was in a coma for five days, suffered collapsed lungs, broken ribs and internal bleeding as well as a spinal cord injury. He remembers at one point being told his oxygen saturation stats and heart rate and thinking, "Why am I still here?"
But fight on he did, and though movement returned to his arm after six weeks, after seeing MRI and CT scans he accepted that the lower half of his body "was gone".
"My focus was to survive with as good an upper body as possible because if you're going to be in a wheelchair the rest of your life, you're going to need that upper body strength," he says.
Now 33, Allister is part of the Irish para-cycling development squad in hand cycling and competing internationally, with his sights on competing at the Paralympics in the future.
"Lying flat is when I'm at my most comfortable, so a racing handcycle is ideal as it's pain free," says Allister, who was a response paramedic before the accident.
He still works remotely as a part-time non-operational paramedic with the London Ambulance Service, specialising in maternal care and developing training.
He also volunteers four times a year with the charity Back Up Trust as a wheelchair skills trainer at Musgrave, using his experience to help patients gain confidence in using their wheelchairs and in real life situations, such as tackling kerbs, steps and public transport.
"With my love of mountain biking and all things wheels I got quite handy at the wheelchair quickly, and want to help others," adds Allister.
It is hoped work on Horatio's Garden will start later this year, with a view to the garden being completed in autumn 2023. Fundraising is now in its final phase with 80 per cent of the required £1.25 million total raised.
::To help Horatio's Garden reach their target or to find out more, visit Horatiosgarden.org.uk or email info@horatiosgarden.org.uk.
