Accessible salon opened by Thai balcony fall survivor

[dutchman]

Nothing will stand in the way of Maddi Neale-Shankster getting her lashes done



A beautician left paralysed after a balcony fall has opened an accessible salon where people should "not feel like a burden for needing extra support".

Maddi Neale-Shankster, from Coventry, made the decision after struggling to access beauty treatments.

She said she hoped the salon would be a sanctuary for wheelchair users and the able-bodied alike. A place where people did not feel judged, she said.

Ms Neale-Shankster was injured last year after falling 60ft (18.2m) while holidaying with friends on the island of Koh Phangan.

Recalling an attempt to use a sunbed in the city with a friend's help, the 22-year-old said it could only be allowed if a door was left open.

The experience drove the beautician to open her own salon that she hopes will be a sanctuary for wheelchair users and able-bodied people alike, "where you don't feel judged, out of place, a burden for needing extra support."

"There's absolutely nothing that's ever gonna stop me from getting my lashes done and having a sunbed."

She had often been left with no option but to carry out catheter care at the back door of a former business premises, she said.

"I didn't fit in the toilet, I didn't fit down the corridor, I didn't fit in the nail desk," she told BBC CWR.

Now, her purpose-built salon features wider nail desks, rooms, doorways, and access via a slow inclining ramp.

Her ordeal in Thailand left her with a broken back and two collapsed lungs. Her ribs pierced her liver when she fell.

Her subsequent disability has "opened my eyes to how cruel and harsh the world can be to disabled people," she said.

"I have found the world's a lot harder in a wheelchair, so I wanted to make it an easier place for me and anyone in this situation."

"In my experience a lot of places say it's disabled access because they've got a ramp, but the ramp's far too steep or it's made out of stone."

The salon has also run a charity raffle to raise funds for spinal research.