DeadlyCords

Not to mention the hundreds of iron daggers you forged to get to the necessary level

People didn't take it seriously. I remember some of my friends joking around about me pretending to be in a wheelchair. They weren't my friends for much longer tbh haha.

The hardest part of it all was the lack of self-sufficiency. I couldn't go to the bathroom alone, I couldn't shower or bathe alone. I was a 17 year old kid, it was so embarrassing to ask people to help me with such basic things I could do myself.

Both those were really hard, but i was lucky that I didn't have to get used to it coz I got better... I can't imagine what people who are paralysed forever go through

The diagnosis was weird - I didn't really believe it, nor understand it for a long time. It felt surreal - I honestly thought I would be in hospital for a week, get a bunch of tests (including a lumbar puncture which was not fun), and then be fine to go home and start running again.

I answered your second question previously:

I genuinely didn't realize the severity of my situation until I started physiotherapy to walk again... While I was in hospital I didn't understand that the paralysis could have been permanent.

As for your third question:

I can honestly say however, that this experience has scarred me. I have severe travel anxiety and everytime I get sick i'm really scared it's coming back - even though there's no way it is.

I genuinely didn't realize the severity of my situation until I started physiotherapy to walk again... While I was in hospital I didn't understand that the paralysis could have been permanent. When I started to learn to walk again, my biggest fear was that I wouldn't be able to run. When I started running, my biggest fear was that the illness would come back.

I know you're joking, but I actually wish I had bionic shoulders right now - maybe it would get rid of the pain haha

Bionic Limbs would be pretty cool, but if the technology existed I would hope they would give them to someone who needed them more than I did :)