“I felt imprisoned in my own home,” said David Bateman, a 53-year-old from Halstead, Essex, who faced a lack of support following a sudden paralysis in 2023. Bateman, who was diagnosed with a spinal cord tumor in 2017, became paralyzed from the chest down while undergoing cancer treatment. Following his discharge, he was not referred to a specialist spinal unit and felt abandoned by a healthcare system that he said focused heavily on his cancer while ignoring his spinal injuries and the realities of living with them.
A Journey Toward Advocacy
After his diagnosis, Bateman was given a life expectancy of 12 months and told to “go home and make memories.” Instead, he found himself isolated, spending 12 hours a day in bed and 12 hours in a chair, afraid to leave his home due to a lack of guidance on managing his condition. “I didn’t want to go out because of the risk of bowel accidents, so I felt imprisoned in my own home,” he said. He described finding the charity as being in a “black room” where “big doors opened up and all the light is shining in.”
The Moment of Paralysis
“That’s one of those points where you think the unimaginable has happened,” Bateman said. While undergoing treatment in March 2023, he woke up to find he could no longer feel his legs. He recalled asking a nurse to help remove blankets from his legs, only for her to tell him that no blankets were on them. Although Bateman remained in hospital for three weeks and received a care package, he was not referred to a specialist spinal unit and said he was “just left to my own devices.”
Systemic Changes in Care
Bateman’s experience has since prompted a shift in how local medical teams approach patient care. Morven Hurding, a senior cancer nurse at Colchester Hospital, admitted that the focus on treating Bateman’s rare cancer likely resulted in insufficient support for his spinal injury. “We’ve learned a great deal about what’s available outside of our immediate hospital services,” Hurding said, noting that hospital teams are now encouraged to avoid working in silos and are being made aware of the resources offered by the SIA. She added that patient experience is “absolutely key to making any improvements.”
Bateman, whose cancer is now considered stable, currently works with the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) and the SIA to support other patients. Despite these improvements, the SIA continues to warn that access to essential spinal care remains a “postcode lottery” for many across the country, specifically regarding the “vital help and support that they need to live a fulfilled life.”
