Lucky...

People are always saying how lucky I am when I meet celebrities or get given stuff and rightly so. I have been extremely fortunate in who I have met down the years and have even been in the presence of bonified legends such as Thierry Henry on more than one occasion.

In fact, at a Junior Gunner awards ceremony back in 2006, I was privileged enough to award the Frenchman one of his many accolades to which he gave me it back and told me to keep it.

Another amazing moment was when Tomas Rosicky picked me out of the crowd and gave me his shirt after a famous North London Derby victory in 2014.

My luck was well and truly in on both occasions. However, I have paid a massive price for my luck and I'm not talking money. I'm not too sure how lucky one can be if they're disabled. I personify the saying "You win some, you lose some" but unfortunately the bad far outweighs the good.

Having photos with famous people is one of the 'perks' if you like of being wheelchair bound. It's a bit like being able to skip queues at most places, getting 2 for 1 cinema tickets and having a parking permit for special places. They're all great schemes and definitely make my life significantly easier but none of them make up for me having this horrendous condition. Unfortunately, I did not have the choice but if someone said to me you can lead a normal, generic life not meeting any celebrities or have Friedreich's Ataxia (obviously they would have to explain what that was) but get concessionary rates on tickets, I would choose not to have a disability.

I would give up Rosicky giving me his shirt, Henry giving me his Player Of The Season award and meeting loads of other famous people just to be able to walk again.

I have also been told how lucky I am to get a council flat even though the fact is if I wasn't disabled, I would be able to get a job and save the money to move out privately. When you think about it, I'm really UNlucky that I am in a position where I have to rely on the  council to house me.

So, I am very lucky sometimes in who I meet but I was not when it came to drawing short straws in the gene pool. 

Bye for now!

Other pictures of me being lucky: