Buckle Up!: Life with a Spinal Cord Injury

In Buckle Up!, I share the story of my life before a collision, the challenges of adapting to life afterwards with a spinal cord injury, and the years that followed as I learned to navigate my wheelchair in a world that suddenly looked very different. With honesty, gratitude, and moments of humour, I reflect on my struggles, the support of those around me, and the perspective that I gained along the way.

My journey eventually led me to one of the most difficult and personal decisions, a person can face: my acceptance into Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying program, and the complicated reality of living with that choice while trying to continue to move forward with the unpredictable road life can take us on.

I say us and not me because I have learned over the years that this Is a road I unfortunately share with so many others. This is for those who suffer in silence while the outside world stays loud. When you've tried everything to alleviate the pain, but you keep suffering and fighting to stay, that's the definition of resilience.

It will hurt and hurt and hurt. Then, one day, it won't.

Roger William Ralph Smith, the author of Buckle Up!, resides in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, formally from the small, rural community of Kelly's Cross. This is his first and only book he has written and it started out as something to help try to keep him distracted from pain, never imaging it would actually become something that would be published. He hopes his message of gratitude and acceptance, especially within the spinal cord injury community, will encourage others to accept what is beyond their control and to live their lives to the best of their abilities and to appreciate the little things in life. Everyone has a story to tell and this is his.