This week, Oxfordshire Unlimited chairman Peter Hindshaw speaks about how he learned to cope with disability to help others.

WHAT I’M CALLED: My name is Peter Hindshaw, my closest friends call me Pete and my grandson calls me Grandad Pete

MY AGE IN YEARS: 66.

WHAT I DO: I am retired but put a lot of time into improving aspects of life that cause difficulties to physically disabled people. I am chairman of Oxfordshire Unlimited, an organisation of physically disabled people working for equality in all aspects of life for people with physical disabilities.

WHERE I LIVE: I live in Epwell but it is not a good place to live in a wheelchair. I am looking at purchasing a house nearer to civilisation.

WHO I LOVE: There are four women in my life and I love them all. Two of them are my daughters who, with their families, give me a great deal of pleasure. The other two are wonderful women who have each helped me enormously to survive some serious life-changing problems and enjoy key aspects of life.

HAPPIEST YEAR: There have been many happy periods and I try to be happy most of the time.

DARKEST MOMENT: 11.30pm, January 15, 1966, when I broke my neck and became substantially paralysed. I was a fit 20-year-old, in a good job with prospects and engaged to a beautiful girl. I became a physical wreck with no prospects, and little hope of ever getting married.

PROUDEST BOAST: I rebuilt my life after 1966 and made something out of it both enjoyable and rewarding. I regained some fitness, took a main-stream job, got married and had a family, against all the predictions of my original spinal consultant.

WORST WEAKNESS: Procrastination.

LESSONS LEARNED: Too many to list but the biggest one is that there are some really wonderful human beings in the world and it’s worth having one or two of them around you. Trust them!

DULLEST JOB: They’ve all had dull moments but if you look for rewards, you can find them.

GREATEST SHAME: I’ve made mistakes, acknowledged them, learned from them and moved on. You could say it’s a shame I got into a car in 1966 driven by someone who wasn’t fit to drive. But I did and probably bought him at least one of the beers he’d consumed before the accident.

LIFELONG HERO: I’ve had many heroes, none of them lifelong. Most characters would have been Spitfire pilots, racing drivers, or footballers.

OLDEST FRIEND: The girl who left her job and her home town the day after my accident and stayed with me or near me throughout my year in a spinal unit. We never did get married but our friendship has survived many challenges throughout its 50-year duration, during which time we have rarely been less than hundreds of miles apart and, except for 1966, always lived in different countries.

WIDEST SMILE: My first daughter gave me many special moments; being born was the biggest.

FAVOURITE DREAM: I’d be a liar if I said I haven’t dreamt about waking up fit, healthy, and able to do what other people do, but I don’t dwell on it.

BIGGEST REGRET: While I reckon I made a reasonably good father, when I see what my two sons in law do with my grandchildren, I wish I could given the same enjoyment of movement to my two daughters.