It was the summer of 2010 and I was having a bachelorette party. I had been engaged for a year, and it was four weeks from my wedding. I'd met Chris in college; he was my first boyfriend. We got engaged right after graduation. We were staying at a friend's house who lived in Virginia Beach. At night, my friends got me a limo like I had always wanted, and we went dancing. By 1 or 1:30 a.m., I was kinda over it, and wanted to chill by the pool. So we went home, I ran upstairs to put my suit on, and stood at the side of the pool. It was chilly, so I was hesitating, and my friend playfully came up behind me and pushed me into the pool. I went headfirst. Thank god I protected my head with my hands, but I went in at bad angle and broke my neck.
I immediately knew it was serious, even as I was on the side of the pool with the paramedics. People say it was shock but I knew how bad it was. Chris was camping with his dad three and a half hours away so when the accident happened we couldn't get in touch with him at first; he didn't know until the morning. I can't imagine getting that phone call. He was scared and sad about what happened, mostly. I was in the ICU for 10 days and then I went to rehab for about 2 ½ months. I'm a C-6 quadriplegic.
Chris was by my side the whole time, no matter what. It wasn't even a question. People are like, "It's amazing that he stayed with you!" It's like people think someone with a disability isn't as deserving as someone who is able-bodied. As if he's giving me a favor. That is so sad for them, because it goes to show that they have no idea what true love is.
Before the accident, we were very sexual as a couple. We click sexually very well. We had sex more than the average couple. He was actually my first; I lost my virginity to him in college. We just connected so perfectly — sex was something that always brought us closer together, and it was scary to think what our lives would be like sexually [after the accident]. The doctors don't really talk about that stuff — you don't know until you get into rehab. And even there, they don't say anything unless you ask, which I did. Learning how to have sex all over again, in my opinion, is vital to the rehab process. I had a very awesome, open nurse who worked at the hospital I was at, and neither of us had any problems talking about sex. There was also a female quad who worked there who was 40 and who got hurt in her 20s, and she was very sexual and open, and I asked her a lot of questions.
[Chris and I] had sex for the first time after the accident when two months had passed, and it was kind of like losing my virginity again. We talked about it, we knew we would still be intimate, and we knew I wouldn't be able to crawl around on the bed and climb on top of him — but from the sex ed that I sought out since I was openly talking to people [at rehab], there were plenty of positions I could do. I actually had sex for the first time in rehab, because they have a special room, like an apartment, that people go into by themselves, and it's kind of like being at home again. The nurses only come when you ask them for help for something, because it's hard to transition from a hospital bed to normal life again. So we had an apartment for the night and we decided to try to have sex.
It was different than it used to be, first of all, because I don't exactly feel sexy. Before I got hurt, I was an aerobics instructor and I got myself as fit as I could. I was a girl. I wanted to look sexy. Now I couldn't even shave my legs by myself, I was pale, and I had a neck brace on in the middle of summer. So it was hard to be in the moment, but at the same time, it was a revelation! It was awesome. I was like, "I'm gonna go home and take care of myself like I used to, and I wont always have this neck brace."
I'm still trying to figure out the deal with orgasms. Basically, it's hard to explain this, but some people have complete feeling down there when they have sex. I'm not one of them. I don't feel below my chest, but when I'm having sex I can tell when he's inside me — because my blood pressure raises a little bit, and your body changes in a lot of little ways. The vagus nerve is responsible for the pleasure signals from sex and it totally bypasses your spinal cord and goes straight to your brain. So that's why I'm kind of able to tell when I'm having sex and still feel aroused. You get endorphins, you feel the same signals in your brain pleasure-wise, I get the messages. And most girls like to be kissed on their neck, but now it's an ultra sensitive spot for me. It's very intense.
Now: Do I hardcore climax? I haven't gotten there yet. But I get to a very intense state of pleasure. And sometimes, other quads figure out how to get that, after years and years. But one positive difference, I would say, is that before the accident, it was always about having the orgasm. My mind really did kind of get set on getting there, and sometimes, looking back, I wasn't always in the moment. And now I am. At this point, it's about feeling all those pleasure zones as they happen, and not just waiting for the big climax.
Obviously, I want people to understand the truth. I'm not gonna say it's so much better — I miss orgasms. It's natural to want to have an orgasm. I'm never going to lie about it. But as far as positions go, it's much easier to do missionary obviously with my legs — you'd hold them back, but what I do is kind of wrap my arms around my legs to make it easier. I can do it from the side, like being embraced, or on my stomach.
One reason I'm very upfront and overshare about this is because it's such a misconception that people in wheelchairs can't have sex or be sexy — and they're just lying there, so how can that be sexy? But there's a lot I can still do in the bedroom, and I still think our sex life is better than the average married couple's.
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Photo Credit: Martha Manning
