Kirsty O'Connor: life-changing accident to caring career

After a life-changing car accident, Kirsty O’Connor from County Tipperary, Ireland, knew she was destined for a career as an occupational therapist. Following a remarkable recovery fuelled by determination, a positive mental attitude and support from those around her, Kirsty achieved that goal.

In November 2009 during the second year of her studies, Kirsty’s life changed when she was involved in a road accident during bad weather. “I was driving to UL one morning to attend class. It was pouring rain, and I was unaware of a huge flood that had formed at the base of a mountain near where I live. My car hit the water, spun and hit a wall,” she recalls.

The accident resulted in a spinal fracture and a traumatic brain injury. She was left in a coma for six weeks and when she woke, she was paralysed from the waist down and lost sensation in the left side of her body. Her vision was impaired due to nerve damage in her right eye.

After two months in hospital, Kirsty regained feeling in her body and was able to walk again with crutches. She was then sent to the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire for help with her recovery. “This was where I met an occupational therapist who made the biggest impact on my recovery journey. When you’re the patient, people are always telling you what you can’t do, but the occupational therapist in Dun Laoghaire turned that around by asking me what I wanted to do and what I wanted to achieve and we started working on those goals.”

After four weeks of working with the team at the National Rehabilitation Hospital, Kirsty was able to walk out of the hospital, and three months later was able to drive again.

In January 2023, Kirsty joined medical device company, Seating Matters, where she now works as their Clinical Training Manager. After completing some in-house training in the area of seating and postural assessments, Kirsty had the opportunity to secure funding from her employer and the Springboard+ scheme to return to UL once again to complete a postgraduate certificate in ‘Posture, Seating and Wheelchair Mobility Across the Life Course’.

“Looking back, I am still blown away by the transition of where I was in 2009, and where I am today. My experiences have shown me that with the right people around you, you can achieve amazing things.

“Thanks to opportunities given to me by UL and all the people I have around me, I am so lucky to work in a job that I love getting out of bed for every day. The cherry on top is seeing that I can help change so many lives, just like that occupational therapist did for me.”