Beware

I worked as a model intermittently for many years, in art schools, upstairs rooms at pubs, church halls . I found it exciting and the company very friendly. Then it all came to a very sad end.

I was working as a nude model at a local art school. I had never previously posed for a sculpture class. What I didn't realise was that the sitting position for a sculpture class would be much more dangerous than for a drawing class. I remember taking my clothes off and putting them in a chaotic cupboard in the corner of the studio. The instructor helped me up to a podium about two feet high.

Sitting on a high stool with my feet on the cross-supports about 6 inches off the floor. My head must have been at least seven feet above the concrete floor. After about 50 minutes I had a short spell of back ache. I did not think much about it. It was mild for January. Despite having been still for 50 minutes, I did not feel cold. Suddenly I began to have tunnel vision. Blackness closed in. Three or four seconds later I passed out. I know nothing of what happened after that until I woke up lying on the floor with two ambulance men looking over me before pinching my leg and asking whether I could feel anything. I couldn't. I felt nothing as I broke my neck at C4/5. I also had an injury above my right eye. I guess I must have knocked my head back sharply as I fell. My spinal injury left me with paralysis and very limited sensation below my chest, severe spasticity and double incontinence.

Obviously I deeply regret taking that final appointment. It was at short notice to replace a woman. This sometimes happens when it is the wrong time of the month for her. Sometimes I feel that the whole episode as a model was silly; at other times I look back and remember the excitement, the fun and the friendliness of the company. Because of what happened to me, I am reluctant to suggest modelling to others; but it can be a source of excitement and pleasure if you do not rely on the instructor to keep you in a safe position.

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