Student Didn't Realize She'd Broken Her Back And Is Paralyzed For Life After Beach Fall

After falling backward on a promenade wall in Edinburgh, a student was left paralyzed from the waist down and is now raising money for a new 'chariot.'

In April of last year, Rosie Sinclair, 29, was sitting on a wall at Portobello Beach when she fell backward while attempting to stand up.

After crashing into the cobblestones from a great height, the University of Edinburgh student broke her back and injured her spinal cord.

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Rosie developed Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) following four operations to rebuild her spinal cord. FND is a disease in which the brain and the affected part of the body avoid communicating, resulting in paralysis.

Rosie was eventually able to return home on February 23 after spending almost a year in various hospitals. She has been attempting to raise £3,865 for a lightweight wheelchair, which she refers to as her 'chariot,' after dislocating her arm when using a bulky 19kg NHS chair.

Rosie, who is studying a Ph.D. in English Literature, recalled: "I was sitting on the end of the wall, lent backward and fell off onto my back on the cobblestones.

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"It felt like I'd fallen onto a balloon and it had popped under me. It hurt a lot, but I could still move my legs and stand up then, so my friend and I said no to an ambulance.

"I would say where I fell off the corner is broken, the concrete has broken away. I would like to see it get fixed so this doesn't happen to anybody else.

"I drove home and went to bed. But the pain got worse and by morning my feet were numb and I couldn't pee, and I also had a large swelling on my back.

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"My sister, who's a GP, advised me to go to A&E, and I did.

"I walked in, laid down on a stretcher, and never got up again because by then my spinal cord had been damaged by the swelling from my injury."

Rosie spent nine weeks at Edinburgh's Western General Hospital before being moved to the Astley Ainslie Hospital in June 2020, where she stayed for another nine months.

Rosie co-founded the Edinburgh Mask Makers project shortly before her accident, which she managed to operate from the hospital to help produce 13,000 free masks for key staff and others in need.

She was allowed to return home, but she had to leave her home in Newington, Edinburgh because it was no longer wheelchair accessible.

The City of Edinburgh Council took seven months to adequately house her in her new home, and she now depends on carers four times a day because she is still unable to use her kitchen.

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After struggling with her NHS chair, Rosie has built a JustGiving page to finance the purchase of a custom-made light wheelchair.

"It's so heavy, 19kgs, that I dislocated my right shoulder whilst pushing within 48 hours of being home from the hospital," she said, adding: "I have been struggling and unable to leave the house."

Rosie has increased her aim to £7,465 to purchase a chair attachment that will enable her to walk her dog Ruffie.

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