During Spinal Cord Injury Awareness month, hear more from three of our IPF members Dani, Joanne and Tamara, whose stories featured in the Red Roses' match day programme against the Black Ferns last week.
Life-changing injuries are thankfully rare in rugby, but when they do occur, the RFU Injured Players Foundation (IPF) swings into action.
Helping IPF members to live their best lives possible and to stay part of the rugby family, the charity hosts some inspirational people in a specially adapted hospitality box at every Allianz Stadium Test.
The atmosphere is fantastic, the camaraderie guaranteed. Among the guests toasting the Red Roses when they took on the Black Ferns was Dani, whose little daughter Isla-Rose was also an England mascot for the day. Cheering her on were other IPF members, like Tamara and Joanne.
Dani was injured playing for Reading Rams in 2017 and says: “The IPF have been with me since day one. I met so many people in my spinal injuries unit who had no support at all, but I had the IPF who gave me a future and helped me live an independent life.”
And what a life Dani has made. She has married her partner, Pete and had Isla-Rose, a little sister for Freddie and Lillie-Rose. She has sailed around the Caribbean, completed the London Marathon three times, raising funds for the IPF and Spinal Injuries Association (SIA), and also become an ambassador for the SIA.
Dani has campaigned for better, more accessible healthcare for disabled people and was at 10 Downing Street with the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Spinal Cord Injury in December, delivering a petition calling on the Prime Minister to adopt recommendations to build a national strategy for spinal cord injury.
Despite chronic nerve pain, she still enjoys sport. She represents Great Britain at para ice hockey and made history becoming the first woman to score in an IPC world championship or Paralympics match. Isla-Rose was just seven weeks old when Dani flew out to the US for her first world challenge but, despite lots of battles through her pregnancy, she still achieved that dream.
“My children are the reason I’m thriving and doing my best. I want them to see that when life gives you a bad hand, you haven’t lost,” says Dani, who recently returned from the Danube where, with the Redefining the Impossible Foundation, she cycled a hand-powered bike on the 200-mile route.
Explaining when she was first introduced to the Injured Players Foundation, Dani says, “A day after my injury I was met in hospital by a man from the IPF, who made what had felt like a tornado ripping through my life feel more like a calm rainy day. Pete had a call telling him that they are, and always will be there, ready to help with any situation. The IPF took over our worries.
“I had the IPF backing intensive rehab to really push my body to its new limits. That was provided by other people’s fund raising which is why Pete helped me complete the London Marathon so that someone else can benefit like we did from the IPF’s support."
Tamara , one of the founder members of Bath Ladies, was playing for the team in February 2008 when she sustained a spinal cord injury in what she calls a “freak accident”. Both Tamara and Steve Borthwick, now England head coach, were studying at Bath University and, with other Bath players, he visited her in hospital.
“One of the great things about the IPF is that they are working to reduce catastrophic injuries in rugby, to change Laws where needed. And their immediate support after a catastrophic injury makes a huge difference. I was flown to hospital, operated on, and the next day their welfare officer was there asking family, friends, teammates,‘How can we be there for you?’
Now living in Salisbury, closer to family and more involved with family life, Tamara has had her house adapted by the IPF, with ramps, wider doors, walls removed to install and wet room, a kitchen extension built housing her exercise equipment and giving easy access to the garden where raised beds allow her to plant vegetables.
Her three-year part time Biblical Counselling course was funded and she now helps with pastoral care at her church, as well as devoting time to Project Manna, a not-for-profit organisation run by her sister and brother-in-law, where on five acres of land they use horticultural projects to engage children and support adults with life impacting difficulties. She’s also increasingly involved in a UK charity Tikvah Trust who use sustainable farming to help poor and marginalised communities in South East Asia.
Tamara supports the IPF’s research projects, has been on three IPF ski courses in Andorra as part of the Foundation’s Engage Programme, joins IPF regional lunches at the Rec and international matches in the IPF hospitality box, where she caught up with Steve Borthwick at the Red Roses’ world cup final win, and she was at the England Rugby pitchside summer BBQ in support of the IPF.
The Engage Programme helps players rebuild confidence and independence while challenging themselves in a safe and supported environment and Tamara says: “I've loved skiing. It’s great to be free, enjoy the speed, the views. When you get a bit of a run, and you're making nice turns, everything feels good. We were in a team environment encouraging one another. Feeling that support is really wonderful.
“Watching the Red Roses in the IPF Box, some people were fairly newly injured. One particular lady found it so encouraging to see others getting on with life, realising that there's so much that you can do. Being there for her was fantastic as she managed to watch the game and appreciated just being in a team environment again.
“The IPF is a small charity. They don't waste money. It's well targeted towards supporting people who’ve been thrown a curveball and can feel like their lives have been wrecked. The IPF step in at a time when people are at their lowest, and they really make a difference, helping you rebuild.”
Joanne who sustained a spinal injury in 2021 will also at Allianz Stadium supporting the Red Roses with the IPF and says: “They have supported me in more ways than I could ever have dreamed of. You can't put a price on those precious people who help you.
“You feel like you’ve lost your identify when you can no longer play rugby, that you’re cut off from the world. But just when you think you've lost everything, the IPF are there for you. It's like being part of a team again, with the same camaraderie and you’re happy again. The IPF support gave me hope. It was like a new flame ignited by this new rugby family.”
Follow the Injured Players Foundation on social media @RFUIPF Spread the word so your rugby community knows support is available if ever needed.
