Interview with Martin Hibbert

Martin Hibbert is a motivational speaker whose life changed forever on the night of 22nd May 2017, when he found himself just two feet from the blast zone in the Manchester Arena bomb attack. Twenty-two bolts of shrapnel entered Martin’s body at 90mph when the bomb went off at the Ariana Grande concert, with his extensive injuries described as the equivalent of being shot 22 times at point blank range. Despite suffering such devastating news, Martin has been determined to use his experience to have a positive impact on others. His new life mission is to use his story to inspire others through adversity but also raise awareness when it comes to spinal injuries. (https://martinhibbert.com/)

Sesame Access interviewed Martin Hibbert in April 2022. This took place before his mountain Kilimanjaro to understand his experience of becoming spinal injured and the preparation to climb a mountain.

Would you mind telling us about yourself?

My name is Martin Hibbert and I live in Chorley, Lancashire. I've been spinal cord injured for five years and I am paralysed from the belly button down. I was paralysed in the Manchester arena bomb in 2017. It's been an up and down five years, as you can imagine.

I woke up in intensive care a few weeks after the incident and was told I am not going to walk again, but the attitude I have is that I am just glad to be alive with everything that happened that night. I have a very positive attitude, despite everything that has happened and continues to happen.

I became a trustee of the spinal injuries association and now I am Vice President. So, a lot has happened. Before I was injured, I was running around 24/7 like a madman and I'm still like that now, that's the attitude really. Just because I'm in a wheelchair I shouldn't not be able to do everything I did before. I drive a range rover sport which everyone's always baffled by how I get in it, until I show them how. So yeah, it's just pushing the boundaries and not being dictated by able bodied people with what I can and cannot do. Because I'm in a wheelchair and I'm very passionate about it, as you can see from my social media, I do try and push the boundaries and I don't allow my disability to inhibit what I do, professionally or personally.

With the Kilimanjaro climb that's not about me or the arena it's actually showing what disabled people can do when they've got the right help and support. What I get really annoyed about is, not the spinal cord injury or the wheelchair that makes me feel disabled, it is people's attitude towards disability in the environment or the lack of it. The fact I can't just get on a bus or train or if I want to go away with my wife for a weekend. It's like a military operation because I've got to find out where the disabled parking is or if the doorways are wide. I'm not able to do the things that I want to do.

I always call out or call in, apparently that is what you say now, when I see or experience difficulties in public due to being disabled. For example, on Twitter I spoke about Ellis Brigham, the outdoor shop in Manchester. The lift has been out of order for about 12 months now. They gave us a discount for the climb to buy our kit, but it can only be used in store. However, every time I went to Manchester, I popped in but couldn't get upstairs to get the things that I needed. So, I just put it on Twitter and then they replied saying 'we're going to get somebody out', but it shouldn't take me going on Twitter for this.

The Trafford Centre is just as bad, which is a big shopping centre in Manchester. Lifts and accessible toilets are always out of order. I ended up going to the customer service and said ‘look, do you not want disabled people shopping?’ and they said ‘No, what makes you say that?’ and I'm just like ‘Well there is no disabled parking so I have to park in a normal space and my friend has to move my car, there's no accessible toilets and the lifts are always out of order’. It doesn't make sense.

I also went on a Spa break with my wife last week and like I always do I email before I go. I said I can see that you've got accessible bedrooms, but I just want to check if the facilities are accessible, because it's not cheap. They replied saying ‘You know we've got some beautiful accessible rooms; the only problem is the spa isn't accessible’ so I said, ‘The reason why I would come to your facility is for the spa and the spa facilities aren't accessible? So, you've got accessible rooms but not an accessible spa, so you just want me to stay in my room for three days?’ So that's when I get really annoyed.

Also, I went to Moncler on Bond Street to go shopping. However, the men’s section was upstairs, but they said sorry there's no lift as we are a listed building. But it's like if the Houses of Parliament are accessible then what's the excuse?

Now that I've got quite a good media profile now and with the things that I'm doing on BBC breakfast they've given me a camcorder to get these kinds of things on film, you know if I'm in trouble, or if I can't get in somewhere. They said get it on film and we will get it out. I think ITV1 also wants to do a project with me on accessibility with Cherylee Houston.

When I come down to London, I am lucky I've got really good upper body strength. It is tough, it seems ridiculous to get around London in a wheelchair. If it wasn't for my friend being there, I probably wouldn't be able to get around. You can't get down Bond Street or in any shops other than Louis Vuitton. But again, the ramps that they have are like a death trap. This is what makes me feel miserable. It's not this injury or what happened to me, it's people's attitudes towards it, and I say that when I look at the BAME community and the LGBTQ+ Community, because if they couldn't get in a shop or if they couldn't get in a restaurant, it would be on the front pages! Yet every day we're being discriminated against even when we're under the same Equality Act as them. I think maybe we need to sing and scream about it until people get annoyed! You have almost got to get on people’s nerves to make a change. So that's what Kilimanjaro is about, not just to obviously raise a lot of money and raise awareness around spinal cord injuries, but it's all sorts of goal, you know, give us the right help and support and we can do anything that able bodied people can. Just give us the help and support and believe in us.

How did the attack impact your life and then how did you find the recovery?

I was in the hospital for six months with a spinal cord injury, I was lucky that both me and my daughter survived, but obviously unlucky that one of the bolts severed my spinal cord so obviously I have a spinal cord injury. You are parachuted into a new world; I was forty at the time when it happened so everything that I had learned was just changed instantly.

But I've got a loving wife, some good friends and that has kept my feet on the ground - mind the pun! You just get through it; I'm not saying it's a bed of roses every day because it's not. You play with the cards you've been dealt.

I just look at what I've done, within those five years of having this injury and you know I don't think I would have ever done that, if I had been able bodied. Using my story to inspire, motivate and educate. Therefore, making the world a more accessible place. I mean it's something that I'm really passionate about and hopefully by being Vice President of the spinal injury’s association, it gives me the platform to be able to do that.

There are companies out there that do help with being in a wheelchair in society, like Sesame Access. Also, if you do look at listed building regulations, they do want the buildings to be accessible, it just needs to be discreet, and obviously companies like Sesame Access do that and it looks pretty cool.

I've been following Sesame Access for a while, because we're going to be doing a big project here. When I spoke to the architect, I said I want to obviously make it accessible, but I don't want it to look like a disabled person lives in it, you know what I want it to look cool and on trend. So, when I was doing my research and I came across Sesame Access and saw the steps that turn into lifts I was like that that would be cool in the garden.

Just knowing companies like you exist, and then when shops are saying ‘we're a listed building’ it is just like well look, you know speak with these guys because they can make it work. It doesn't have to be a ramp; it can be a flight of steps that turn into a lift. Because like on Bond Street ramps would look unattractive so again products like yours, where it looks like some steps are brilliant.

How did you find the recovery?

I was in Salford Royal for six weeks, then I went to St Paul’s spinal unit in the Northwest and was there for about three months. Whereas my daughter was at Manchester children's hospital for about 10 months as she suffered a really bad brain injury. Therefore, her recovery and rehab were totally different to mine. We were separated for quite a long time, which was you know the worst part, but I managed to get over there on my birthday in July. So yes, recovery was hard, it was tough. There were a lot of tears and emotions. Mentally, I wasn't in a great place and being in a spinal unit isn't a nice place to be. Although I had a spinal injury, I didn't feel disabled. My whole mindset was the quicker you get through it, the quicker that you get out and that's what I did. I was in and out within just over three months. Whereas people with my type of injury normally are there from anything between three to twelve months.

Then after that you are parachuted back into your home, we had to move house and so it was a big learning curve and we're still learning now even five years on. Every day, something new happens, or something happens where you've never been in that situation before. So yes, we're still learning really. The Spinal Injuries Association aims to allow people to live a fulfilled life. I am a big Man United fan with a season ticket. So, this time I've got a season ticket in the disabled section so I can go to every home game now which is my passion. So, to be able to do that is really good.

I think that the big thing for me was getting back behind the wheel of a car. I passed my driving test a week after I was 17 so I've been driving for 30 years. My car was pretty much my office in previous jobs, and I've driven all around the country all the time, so not having that independence was really tough. Having to depend upon your wife or your friends or taxis and stuff. Being able to go out now and get in my car and drive is an amazing thing. But yeah, it's frustrating when you think that you can't do normal things.

What three things are important to you?

Just being happy and doing the things that you want to do. Obviously, family and friends. Also, good health.

What do you think about people's education towards accessibility?

People don't see it as it's very rare that I do see another wheelchair user, and I go out all the time, I mean it's very rare that I’m indoors. Even the gym that I'm training at is probably the best accessible gym in the country. Yet I'm the only wheelchair user and it opened about two months ago. This is the gym that is looking after our climbing team all for free. This includes strength and conditioning coaching and altitude training on weekends. They've got an altitude chamber. There are not many gyms that are fully accessible with these facilities.

Even with hotels it is hard to find a fully accessible one, like in a hotel when it says wheelchair friendly it means that wheelchair fits through the door. The number of hotels that I’ve stayed at that are ‘wheelchair accessible’ yet have a bath in it. I think that this really needs to be looked at, because even sometimes I'll request photographs of the room and bathroom to make sure it is accessible. I remember once one of the hotels that we were going to stay in showed a shower cubicle with a garden chair in it and said it's a wheelchair friendly bathroom. Yeah, that went straight on Twitter.

So, I feel like the wheelchair friendly or accessible term in the retail and hospitality industry is used when they literally do the basics.

What types of buildings do you struggle to access the most?

Probably a lot of retail places and restaurants. Unless you go to a big shopping centre that is all level you are going to have issues. A lot of the time when I'm going out again it's a case of emailing people and looking on Google maps for a picture of the front entrance.

I was in Australia back in 2019 one of my friends came over for a few weeks and we thought we'd have a trip over to Sydney. I stayed in Brisbane on the Gold Coast. On the flight back they came up to me and said, ‘we've got some bad news, we've left your wheelchair in Sydney’. People don't understand how important that wheelchair is to me to feel human and get around.

You know, even like filling up my car with petrol. Luckily, I only fill up with Shell and there's an app where I can get someone to fill up for me, but often there's only one person on shift so this is hard.

What made you decide to climb a mountain?

Before I went to Australia, we had won a pitch with a charity called The October Club. I found out we won on the day I went to Australia. So, for the pitch me, the chief executive and the nurses were talking about my injury and why the money would be important for the charity. We were guaranteed half a million pounds. I had to do a speech at The Savoy in front of 600 people. We ended up raising close to a million pounds and they asked me to be a trustee for the Spinal Association Charity. They then said what are you going to do for your next million and I said, ‘Let's climb mount Everest’, they laughed but I was serious. They went away and checked to see if it was possible, it wasn't. However, they said the next hardest was Mount Kilimanjaro, so I said let's do that then. It then took 12-18 months to run risk assessments and plan the event. We eventually found the route we could do with the correct vehicle. It took 3 years to plan in total. I also think I am the second or third spinal cord injured person to do this.

What is the training process like?

I enjoy it. Strength and conditioning is twice a week and altitude training is every Sunday. Altitude training allows us to replicate the conditions of Kilimanjaro, for example oxygen levels. The body goes into shock if there isn't enough oxygen while climbing, however by training this in the altitude chamber it prevents altitude sickness and prevents the body panicking.

Who are you doing this trip with?

Two of my nurses that looked after me at Salford Royal and two of my best friends. The rest of the team is made up of nurses and medics in case things go wrong. It will be emotional doing it with people who cared for me, they are training hard, and it means a lot. They've both been by my side from day one. They know it will be tough but that's my life every day. I know we will do it to raise a million pounds for the charity. The spinal injuries association is a very small charity, so they make 3 million pounds, but they spend 3 million so there's never any left. Whereas with the money from the October club it has allowed us to bring in a lot of new people and nurses and do some projects we have always wanted to do.

I've always said, if all I do is climb Kilimanjaro and raise a million pounds, I'll see that as failure. I'm going to be climbing a mountain, but when I come back from climbing Kilimanjaro, I'm going to have to be moving mountains to get the changes that we need to get the funding. We need to ensure that every spinal cord injured person goes to the spinal unit. Because at the minute only one in three people get the help and support that I got from the NHS. What we want is for everybody that suffers from a spinal cord injury, if they need to go to a spinal unit, they do. Because at the minute you can be waiting 12 months, and then you just go back home to a home that's inaccessible where you're reliant upon carers. We want to be working in conjunction with the NHS, like the Marie Curie charity and cancer patients. Initially it's just giving the NHS more money, we need more beds in the spinal unit.

Since this interview Martin has completed his five-day climb using a specially adapted wheelchair to reach the peak of Africa's highest mountain in Tanzania.

Martin is still aiming to raise a million pounds, please click below to donate

https://martins-mountain.justgiving-sites.com/