When Doves Fly: My Life with a Spinal Cord Injury

About me and my Spinal Cord Injury

Hi my name is Maya Dove and I am 18 years old. When I was 6 weeks of age, neuroenteric cysts were found on my spine. The removal of the cycsts resulted in a spinal cord injury at level t3, making me a paraplegic with limited function in right hand. At the age of 4 I became unwell with pneumonia and almost died. When I was younger I had severe debilitating scoliosis and to ease the pressure I went through having my spine fused by rods from c3 to l2 at the age of 10.

My life today

Currently, I am undertaking my final year of high school and next year I hope to study for a bachelors in environment and society. I am working really hard with my studying so I can get the entrance score that I need. Outside of school, I train to be a wheelchair sprinter and a month ago I completed my first race! Before wheelchair racing, I played wheelchair basketball and in doing that I was able to be apart of a wheelchair basketball state team.

I also like to play music and I am taking piano lessons. Throughout my time at school, I have enjoyed drama and I have been apart of 2 of my school's musicals and also acted out a monologue at my schools "Top Acts" night. After school is finished, I want to start a blog and write about topics that interest me as well as write about life with a SCI. I hope that all the young children with a SCI always strive for their best, and not to be afraid of trying new things!