A couple of days ago, I finished reading Hannah Same Both Ways by Hannah Rose. It's the true story Hannah tells about her life since she was diagnosed with transverse myelitis, a condition which damaged her spine leaving her paralysed from the neck down and on a ventilator. It's a small world because not only does she live not too far away from the Liverpool – Cheshire area my grandmother lives in, but she also visited the Villa in Portugal on holiday that is owned by Simon, and his wife Denise. Simon just so happens to be my sister's husband's cousin. On her travels with her family, Hannah has also visited a hotel in Tenerife called Mar Y Sol (she doesn't mention the name but it's in the Los Cristianos/Playa de las Americas area where the hotel I describe is). The hotel is supposed to be really well adapted for people with disabilities that has actually been recommended for me to go to a couple of times but I have never actually gone to yet . I do remember making enquiries about rooms and facilities though, so hopefully Alfredo and I can go in the future.
The book's unique cover and Hannah's chatty and quirky personality drew me to devour the book in just a few days. Each chapter is headed by a quote taken from the chapter it is about, which is a ice idea. All the way through the book I had a great sense of how loving and helpful Hannah's family are, and how important they are to her. Her friends and carers are also tremendously important. I can identify personally with lots of aspects of Hannah's life because of my own disabilities and the fact I have used care agencies, use a hoist and an electric wheelchair, and cannot stand being pushed in a manual one, although I need to ne because I don't have the muscle strength to use a manual wheelchair on my own. I dont't like being in a manual wheelchair on the occasions when my powerchair can't be used as I really feel my independence is being taken away from me, even though I am able to only drive my powerchair for a very short amout of time before I tire and/or am in pain or have a muscle spasm because of the effort I have to go to to move my chair on my own. I, like Hannah, need to carefully plan what I do each day. I also really like shopping and fashion , as well as watching Friends on TV and listening to the Backstreet Boys on my MP5 player! I really loved watching Neighbours During the 80s and 90s. I identify with the many assumptions Hannah mentions that people make about the abilities of those of us with any kind of disability.
So this is a small world. They have this great saying here in Spain which equivalent to saying its a small world, but they say "el mundo es un pañuelo" (the world is a handkerchief ).
It was nice to read about her experiences and opinions on life. I would highly recommend this book.
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