A woman who ‘can’t remember’ breaking her back on a night out has vowed not to let her devastating injuries ruin her life – despite being left paralysed from the waist down.
Until her life-changing accident, Francesca Antoniazzi, from Anglesey, Wales, was an active twenty-something working a nine-to-five office job, going to the gym five times a week and going clubbing with friends.
But on May 29, 2016, she fell during a night out, suffering a broken back, fractured skull and a bleed on the brain – leaving her paralysed from the waist down and with no sense of smell.
The 27-year-old remembers little about what happened, and the first nine days spent in hospital are still a ‘blur’ but despite ‘from the beginning’ that she was paralysed.
Life changing injuries: Francesca (pictured before, left, and after, right) fell during a night out, suffering a broken back, fractured skull and a bleed on the brain – leaving her paralysed
Francesca can’t remember the accident that has left her in a wheelchair for the rest of her life and left her with these horrific injuries (pictured: her broken back and the scar left behind after surgeons operated)
‘Obviously I was devastated, but at the same time I felt like I had no other choice but to accept it. What else can you do?’ she said.
A year on and she’s managed to get herself back in the gym – and she’s even been asked three times to go on The Undateables.
‘I wasn’t in a relationship at the time of my fall and I’ve not dated anyone since,’ she told Cosmopolitan.
‘It’s one of the things I worry most about now that I’m disabled; I’m scared of being alone for the rest of my life. People reassure me that I won’t, but it has played on my mind.
‘I’ve been emailed by The Undateables three times asking me to go on the show. I’ve never watched it but It feels like they’re saying that I’m absolutely undateable because I’m in a wheelchair, and I don’t want to define myself like that. So I won’t do it.
‘It makes me feel a bit rubbish about myself, like maybe that I am undateable? As soon as I’m in a wheelchair, does that make me undateable?’
Francesca spent three months in hospital before being allowed home – half what she’d initially been told to expect. She went back to her parents’ house, where she had lived before the fall
In the first days after her life-changing fall, visiting friends and family helped take her mind off it, as did regular physio and focusing on re-learning how to do things she’d taken for granted before, like dressing herself.
‘But it was frustrating,’ she said. ‘I couldn’t stand the fact that everyone had to do things for me. It was one of the things I’d get most upset about, I just wanted to be independent and not to have everyone waiting on me hand and foot.
‘Hospital soon got tedious, and when I found out they estimated I’d be there for six months, I made a promise to myself that I’d get out sooner.
‘I just wanted to my life to go back to normal again – or as normal as it could – so I forced myself to learn as much as possible just so I could leave earlier.
The way she was: The 27-year-old remembers little about what happened, and the first nine days spent in hospital are still a ‘blur’ but despite ‘from the beginning’ that she was paralysed
‘My friends helped me through, too, excitedly talking about the holiday to Benidorm they’d plan for us when I got out. It was nice to feel like I had something to look forward to, even if I wasn’t sure I’d actually be able to go.’
Francesca actually spent only three months in hospital before being allowed home – half what she’d initially been told to expect. She went back to her parents’ house, where she had lived before the fall, but the house wasn’t adapted for her new needs.
‘I’ve had to resort to having body washes by the sink… but I never feel 100 per cent clean.
‘Once – a few months after I came out of hospital – I went swimming, and as I sat in the shower afterwards I burst into tears. They were happy tears, but I just felt overwhelmed about the fact I was finally having a proper shower.’
Recovery: In the first days after her life-changing fall, visiting friends and family helped take her mind off it, as did regular physio and focusing on re-learning how to do things she’d taken for granted before, like dressing herself
Speaking about her recovery, Francesca said: ‘I just wanted to my life to go back to normal again – or as normal as it could – so I forced myself to learn as much as possible just so I could leave earlier’
She also struggled to adjust to not doing very much. She wasn’t going back to work immediately and so much of her time had previously been filled with exercise.
‘But I was determined that not everything had to be different about my life just because I was in a wheelchair, and I decided to go back to the gym,’ she said.
‘At first it was intimidating. Before, I was into my cardio and I’d do lots of classes, but all I can really do now is upper body strength stuff.
‘It’s hard in loads of ways but it gives me something to do.. I went back into a routine. I can’t reach half the equipment so I’ve got to rely on someone else to be with me there, but my dad comes along and we go three times a week so I can do weightlifting.
‘I’ve got so into weightlifting that I even competed in the British Championships last month, and I’ll do more competitions in future.’
‘It felt so nice to have people who could relate to what I was going through’
In the early days of her recovery, Francesca struggled to adjust to not doing very much. She wasn’t back at work immediately and much of her time had previously been filled with exercise
While at the gym, Francesca met someone from Disability Sport Wales and decided to join a basketball team, the closest thing to netball, which she played before her fall.
Through basketball she’s found a community of people she can identify with: ‘They all have a disability or an impairment of some sort, and it felt so nice to have people who could relate to what I was going through.
‘My friends have been amazing; without them all this would have felt so much harder because they’ve made such an effort to include me, still inviting me everywhere they go,’ she told Cosmopolitan.
‘But despite that, there are still times when I feel lonely. I might see my friends going on holiday with their boyfriends and it’ll make me feel like,
New beginnings: Through basketball, Francesca has found a community of people she can identify with: ‘They all have a disability or an impairment of some sort,’ she explained
Campaigning for a cause: Sporty Francesca is part of Sport Wales’ Our Squad intiative, which aims to inspire, enpower and encourage more women and girls into sport
‘Fantastic, I’m here on my own’. When I feel like that, I’ll have a little cry in secret, but it won’t last long and then I’ll feel much better. I just need to get it out of my system.
‘I’ve tried to go back to normal as much as possible. I’m back at work as a finance and claims officer and everyone has been really supportive, making sure I’m comfortable and that things don’t feel too different to how they were before.’
She works four days a week now, not going full-time yet because of how much quicker she becomes tired. She still goes out, but a lot less than she used to.
‘Going out in her hometown of Bangor can be busy and make her feel claustrophobic and frustrated, so those nights out are on hold for the moment.
But in April, less than a year after she was paralysed, she made it to Benidorm on the holiday her friends planned.
While at the gym, Francesca met someone from Disability Sport Wales and decided to join a basketball team, the closest thing to netball, which she played before her fall
‘I’ve come a long way in terms of getting my life back on track, and I hope I can continue to live as normally as possible in future. I’m enjoying my wheelchair basketball, the weightlifting, being back in work and even driving again. Things are starting to get back to normal – slowly.
‘I’ve just tried hard not to let myself dwell on what’s happened, because there’s always someone else in the same position out there. I don’t want anybody to feel sorry for me or treat me any differently. I’m still the same person with the same personality – just without the use of my legs.’
A spokesperson for Channel 4 told MailOnline: ‘When looking for contributors for this much-commended show the production team approach a wide number of individuals, experts and charities and it was during this process that Francesca passed on her email address to a member of the casting team.
‘Nobody who is approached is assumed to be single or deemed to be “undateable” but rather we hope they will help us spread the word reaching people may like to take part as people who have previously appeared have spoken overwhelmingly in support of it and have found it a really positive experience.’
Francesca is part of Sport Wales’ Our Squad intiative, which aims to inspire, enpower and encourage more women and girls into sport. For more information, visit oursquad.cymru