Isa (21) was interning in Austria for her hospitality management program when she fell while skiing in February 2025. It was a sunny day and, as often on such days, she decided to go up the mountain with a classmate. Due to the bright sun, she couldn't see the depth on the slopes well and flew over a little hill, landing on her back. She knew immediately that something was wrong.
“I immediately felt that something was really wrong. I couldn't feel my legs anymore, I couldn't do anything.”
Isa received the video from Menno a week before she left for Austria. Nevertheless, she wasn't wearing back protection because she had been skiing her whole life, never really fell, and, like many others think, she thought: “That won't happen to me.” But now Isa knows better: “It can happen to anyone, it’s just around the corner.””
After her accident, Isa spent a month in the hospital, followed by three months of rehabilitation in a rehabilitation clinic. Then she started school again, did an internship four hours a week twice a week, and five months later she went back to school physically. In the meantime, she has graduated and completed her studies on time(!). Besides her studies, she had to go to physiotherapy regularly and tried to do as many things as possible that she used to do. And she still does. Recently, she went to a festival in Rotterdam where she was lifted into the air by partying crowds without any problems in her wheelchair.
“I think it's important to just do normal things again, and in the end, I don't see that many obstacles anymore.”
Isa lives in Roosendaal and has been working a few hours a week at the company where her father works since her accident.There she can work behind the computer; it doesn't cost too much energy and was especially easy during school. She works there until August 2026 and from then on, she will join Team Spines .
At first, Isa found the wheelchair difficult and she still finds the reactions of some people the most annoying: "I feel so sorry for you, I really couldn't live like that, I would really break myself if I had that." Isa: “What am I supposed to do with that?”
"In the beginning, you actually just don't want to be seen in your wheelchair and people quickly find you very pitiful, which I find so annoying because I'm not pitiful at all."
She has now gotten used to the wheelchair; the most annoying thing about the spinal cord injury now, Isa finds, is her bladder and bowels. She tries to go to the bathroom when she feels the urge, but as soon as that happens, she has to be at a toilet within five minutes.And so it's always a wait-and-see situation whether and when she feels that urge. Isa: “I’m really happy that I feel that urge because it means I don’t have to do an enema, but that uncertainty about when it will come is limiting and just really frustrating; you want to give it your all, but often that’s just not possible.”
“Not being able to walk, you learn to deal with that, but the bladder and intestines… that’s always a question mark, how that will go. I really find that terrible.”
I spoke to Isa after a neurostimulator was recently placed in her: "Wires have been placed near my nerves that send electrical signals to my bladder, so I might be able to urinate independently again. I’m currently in the testing phase and can’t move much because the wires shouldn’t shift: tissue needs to grow around them, and that takes a few weeks."
Isa shares that she has always been a positive person, but that her accident changed her outlook on life. She had to grow up quickly, feels stronger, more positive, and has gotten to know herself better. She also appreciates the little things more and is much more aware of how fragile life is: 'It can be over just like that.'
Isa: 'If I could walk again, I would go to the beach. Or just spontaneously book a hotel that looks nice, without first endlessly checking if it's accessible.' Now, Isa says, she has to consider everything: is there an elevator, can she get in with her wheelchair, and is the location easily reachable? And even then, things can still go wrong. 'We once called a restaurant to ask if we could come eat with two wheelchairs. That was no problem at all, they said. But when we arrived, we immediately saw two big steps.""We asked where we were then. 'Yes, there,' said the staff. 'You can get over that, right?' No, of course not."
The house where Isa lives in Roosendaal with her parents, brother, and dog is old, and was anything but wheelchair accessible. They built a unit at home and made everything more accessible. Her accident was not only a significant change for herself but also for her parents, brother, and sister. Her sister moved in with her boyfriend who still lived with his parents. Her brother still lives at home but is working a lot. At first, it was an adjustment for everyone to deal with the wheelchair at all. Shoes and other items that were on the floor and in the way; now the floor is always clear. “My mom is almost always home and has become very handy in dealing with the wheelchair, my dad is a truck driver so he is away a lot and you can just see that he is still a bit behind.""That he doesn't really know how it works when I go to the bathroom, for example, but I understand that too, because he doesn't see everything."
Isa has managed to give her spinal cord injury a place, but she also sees how much impact the accident still has on the people around her. "My mother hasn't fully accepted it yet, and I don't know if she will ever be able to accept it. She finds it very difficult to see me like this, and that's of course logical, I am her child."
"I have of course already accepted it, and I have to, I can't do otherwise, but for my mother, it's of course different."
Despite everything, Isa keeps looking ahead. She notices that her body is still making progress. "I'm actually still in the middle of my rehabilitation. It was only a year and a half ago, and I'm still really making progress."Three weeks ago, I was suddenly able to take a few steps with one crutch. I think I can take a few steps without assistance this year, and from there, we can of course build further."
To achieve that, Isa usually trains three times a week, although that is currently on hold due to the neurostimulator. She notices that she sometimes asks a lot of herself. "In the end, I found three times a week not even enough for myself. Then it’s in your head: more, more, more. While three times a week is actually really sufficient."
Despite everything, Isa remains hopeful. She has confidence in her own recovery, but also in the future of research into spinal cord injuries. "I truly believe that one day a medicine or solution will come."
At the same time, she mainly hopes that fewer people will ever end up in the same situation.When asked if more awareness around back protection can make a difference, she doesn't have to think long. "Yes. When you sometimes read messages in Menno's DMs from people who fall hard and have broken something, but don't have a spinal cord injury, that actually proves it."
