Brooke welcomes Kirsty and Xander from Our Chaotic Adventure, a couple who met while playing wheelchair basketball. They talk about their personal experiences with disability, including Kirsty's journey from childhood with a disability to becoming an amputee, and Xander's sudden spinal injury that led to paralysis.

They discuss their perspectives on disability, the medicalisation of disabilities, and the importance of representation in the medical field. Xander, a medical student, shares his efforts to advocate for disability inclusion in medical education. The couple also reflects on their relationship, long-distance challenges, and their upcoming wedding. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• It's vital to have disabled individuals in the medical field to provide a holistic view of care and treatment.
• Overcoming societal perceptions and ignorance about disabilities is key, especially in professions like medicine.
• Embrace disability and push boundaries to achieve personal and professional goals.
• We must better advocate for a shift towards a more inclusive and less medicalised approach to disability.
• We should always push to demonstrate that disabilities should not limit one's aspirations or capabilities, but rather open up new possibilities and perspectives.

BEST MOMENTS

"I see disabled people now and I'm like, come on, just do it. I would definitely not give sound medical advice to a disabled person. Buy the book, don't do that."

"I think it's opened up a lot of different avenues that I didn't expect in different sports. And also as well, I've just actually heard today that I received a place on a master's program for physiotherapy."

"I think it's one of those things that actually it's really important to prove that. So that's why I'm quite amped about trying to improve that. Because I think it's an awesome job and I want more disabled people to do it."

"I've spoken to a lot of people, I genuinely have spoken to a lot of people that have said to me that I would love to do medicine but I'm in a wheelchair."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/disabled-and-proud/id1621152878

HOST BIO

Disabled and Proud is the show that brings listeners a different perspective on disability. Each week this podcast highlights an awesome disabled guest speaking about their own disability; why they are proud to be disabled and why they are proud to be themselves. 

The conversations in this show will look at what challenges these amazing people face socially, mentally, physically and life in general. This show is raw, open, honest, funny, welcoming and educational. 

Disabled & Proud does exactly what it says on the tin! And whilst we are creating this space for disabled people to be unashamedly themselves, without the need to conform to society, this is also not about toxic positivity. This show will be shining a big, bright light on disability without it being “Paralympic or pity”. 

As you will hear disability is WHOLE, COMPLETE & PERFECT and whilst the topic of disability can be quite heavy - and we definitely don't shy away from the bad days - this podcast is also about having fun too! Our aim is to play a part in reclaiming the word disability - turning it from inadequacy to perfection!