Grace Spence Green was just 22 years old when a man plummeted from 120 feet and landed directly on top of her, crushing her spine and leaving her paralysed.
The medical student had been walking through Westfield shopping centre in east London when the intoxicated man leapt from the third-floor balcony and violently collided into her.
Her next memory was waking up on the floor screaming, frantically telling those around her that she had no feeling in her legs.
Ms Green, who was later taken to surgery, had been left with a broken spine, paralysing her from the chest down.
Meanwhile, the man who had fallen on top of her, Amsumana Sillah Trawally, had suffered a mere leg fracture. Following the incident in October 2018, he has since been deported.
The 25-year-old was jailed in 2019 for four years after admitting causing grievous bodily harm. It was concluded that he had likely been under the influence of cannabis at the time he vaulted the third floor barrier at Westfield Stratford.
Recalling the day of the terrifying crash in a previous Radio 4 interview with Jane Garvey, Ms Green said: ‘It was the most surreal, bizarre experience. I can’t describe waking up when you thought you were already awake.
‘Because it was Westfield and state-of-the-art, all I could see was this brilliant white light. It felt like I was in a dream or in heaven or something.
Medical student Grace Spence Green, 29 (pictured), had been walking through Westfield shopping centre in east London in October 2018 when the intoxicated man leapt from the third-floor balcony and violently collided into her
Ms Green’s next memory was waking up on the floor screaming, urgently telling those around her that she had no feeling in her legs. Pictured: the scene of the collision at Westfield Stratford that left Ms Green paralysed from the waist down
‘Apparently I was out for about eight minutes. ‘My first thought was this brilliant white ceiling, then my second thought was, “oh my god I can’t feel my legs.”
‘It really did feel like that movie scene you see. Then, as you say, I realised I was the one screaming. I remember screaming to the police officers nearby me screaming, “I can’t feel my legs.”
‘I was desperately trying to tell them something was wrong. It was the absence of feeling that was the shocking thing. It was like my legs just ceased to exist. I always describe it as like when you unplug a cord. It felt like I’d been unplugged from half of my body.’
Ms Green was immediately rushed to King’s College Hospital where she underwent eight hours of spinal surgery. Titanium was then bolted into her spine in a bid to keep her shattered vertebrae in place.
After an initial two weeks in hospital, the then trainee doctor was later admitted to the Royal National Orthopaedic hospital in Stanmore, Middlesex.
There, she endured endless nights of desperately trying to wiggle a toe, learning the skills required to navigate life in a wheelchair and eventually coming to terms with her new reality.
Now, nearly seven years on, in her new book To Exist As I Am, the now 29-year-old has relived the horrendous experience, alongside her road towards a mental and physical recovery.
But, despite the trauma of her life-changing ordeal, Ms Green insists that she still wouldn’t change a thing.
The man who had fallen on top of her, Amsumana Sillah Trawally (pictured), suffered a mere leg fracture. The 25-year-old was jailed for four years in 2019 after admitting causing grievous bodily harm. It was concluded that he had likely been under the influence of cannabis at the time he fell from the third floor. He has since been deported from the UK
Now, seven years on, in her new book To Exist As I Am, Ms Green has relived the horrendous experience, alongside her road towards a mental and physical recovery. But, despite the trauma of her life-changing ordeal, Ms Green insists that she still wouldn’t change a thing
Speaking to The Mirror, she said: ‘As the years went by, what I gained through my disability, how it’s changed me, the relationships that have changed – I can now say I wouldn’t change it because of all I’ve gained from it’.
Remarkably, she also doesn’t harbour any bitterness towards the man responsible for her injury.
Adding that she had taken comfort in the fact that she likely saved Trawally’s life, she said: ‘That made it much easier to start navigating all of the emotions I felt because what I was going through was really difficult. But I wouldn’t have changed it’.
Ms Green added that while she had initially experienced a ‘sense of denial’ towards her injury, her partner of three years, Nathan, was by her side throughout it all. The couple are set to marry in July.
Describing her beloved partner as a ‘constant’ source of strength, she said: ‘It always felt like we were dealing with this together. It wasn’t just my burden to bear’.
10 months after her injury, Ms Green returned to medical school. Since graduating in 2021, she has now begun her career as a doctor.
Not once, even at her lowest point, did she consider giving up her aspiration for a career in medicine.
Now, she hopes to use her traumatic injury as an opportunity to inspire and advocate for other disabled individuals who can face a daily barrage of micro-aggressions and inappropriate comments.
Believing that disability remains a highly stigmatised topic in society, she feels assured that while challenging, sharing her vulnerable experience offers a unique chance for others to listen and learn.
To Exist As I Am: A Doctor’s Notes On Recovery And Radical Acceptance by Grace Spence Green (Wellcome Collection), £16.99 is out now.
