John

I promised I would tell you about John and why we are going to be raising money for Spinal Research and RFU Injured Players Foundation. As you probably know by now John is the boss here at KC Inks. I am his wife Sally, John likes to tell everyone that I am the real boss but it isn't true! The RFU Injured Players Foundation in partricular is a charity very close to our hearts and for a very good reason. John suffered a devastating injury playing rugby when he was still at school (a month after his sixteenth birthday) and was told he would be completely paralysed. This happened in 1980 before the time of MRIs etc. In those dark old days the doctors really struggled with this type of injury because the equipment needed just wasn't available. Fortunately for John his spinal cord was crushed not severed so he did regain movement. It was a very long hard struggle and even now he doesn't talk that much about his time in hospital (Lodge Moor near Sheffield - it's not there now!) John had to relearn how to do everything and can walk, tie his own bootlaces, write, drive a car and answer the phone to talk to all our lovely customers. He was in hospital for a year and came out in a wheelchair. He has extensive nerve damage and therefore has very little sensation anywhere on his body apart from the top of his shoulders and head. He was incredibly determined and a year after he came out of hospital (when he was nearly eighteen) he attended Kendal College and did a Business Studies course - all without his wheelchair! I have included some pictures but they are all from more recent times.

John and the other love of his life Kara. She is Belgian/German Shepherd and when you phone John at work she is right by his side!

John and his greatest achievments in life - his two sons Danny and Ben. They are sitting in what John calls his "off road golf buggy" John can go places that would not otherwise be possible without it!

This picture really does show how determined John is! He is sitting in a digger! It was a real operation getting John into the digger as it had REALLY high steps but he wanted to do it so he got on with it (we helped!) He was a dab hand at driving it as well!

Now I think John might love this car more than he loves me. It is a 1974 Ford Granada. It is perfect for John as it is automatic and has loads of space. John is 6'1 so needs that extra legroom! This is the car that we will be driving this summer and I will tell you more about the EPIC DRIVE in another post.

I have not gone into huge detail about John's injury on purpose because words cannot really convey the enormity of what happened. It also cannot begin to give you an idea of the struggle John faces doing things that you and I take for granted. His "official title" is C4/C5 Quadriplegic. It is an amazing achievment that he gets to work in the morning (and that he is working at all!) Spinal Research is doing amazing work and the RFU Injured Players Foundation has helped us and we feel that we could try and give something back and this is something John can do so we are going for it!