This is an ABC podcast.

Hi, it's All in the Mind on RN. I'm Lynne Malcolm.

And today, in this Science Week of 2020, a look into the lives of people who've had a spinal cord injury

and how scientific research can bring them new hope.

First, let's hear from the inspirational Sam Bloom. She's now a twice world champion parasurfer,

and well known on Instagram to the thousands of followers of the Penguin Bloom account,

which tracks the story of how Sam and her family nurtured and

injured magpie.

Sam became paralysed in 2013 after an accident in Thailand.

Well, my husband and I have always loved travelling.

And when we had our three boys, we thought, right, you know, as they grow up,

we'll hopefully show them the world. And so we took them to Thailand because we thought, you know,

it's pretty close. It's an easy country and the people are lovely. And so we were, it was like,

I think, day four into our holiday and we're staying at this really nice hotel, just opposite the beach.

It was pretty remote.

And one of the kids said, let's go up on this rooftop.

So we all went upstairs and I leant on the railing and it broke.

It had dry rot and I didn't realize and it broke.

And I fell six meters and broke my back.

That was the start of our holiday.

I broke my back at T6, sort of in line with my chest.

And I also sustained quite a few other injuries.

...