Neuro Note #3

For this neuro note, I decided to watch the film "Me Before You". This movie is about a year old now and since it is a romance movie, I have , of course, already watched it. However, that was before I started OT school and learned about spinal cord injuries. I decided to watch this movie again with a new perspective and understanding of the process that the main character, Will Trainer, was going through. I paid closer attention to details I did not notice before or honestly really consider before learning more in depth about the physical and mental implications one faces when one suffers from a SCI. Will Trainer was a young man in his prime who was also very active and had many great things going for him in his life. As Will was leaving his home one day, he was in an accident with a motorcycle that caused him to have a spinal cord injury and resulting in quadraplegia. Will currently lives his days in a motorized wheelchair in the attic of his parent's home relying completely on the care of others to carry out most of his daily needs. As one expects, Will has a huge psychological toll taken on him. He enters a stage of depression, hopelessness, and anger toward all others who attempt to help him. He feels as if no one could possibly understand what he is going through and just how tragic it is to go from being able to do everything to hardly anything at all. One of the biggest things I noticed myself paying closer attention to is how the upstairs room has been adapted for Will. I took note of the open spaces, the lowered counter tops, the sliding doors, and overall the convenience of his own space to promote independence. Another aspect I paid closer attention to was the medication Will was on now because of the SCI and I know better now why he needs these type of medications to aid in treatment. However, one of the biggest connections I made was how Lou more or less ended up fulfilling the role as an occupational therapist. Given she was not licensed and was only hired as a caretaker, Lou took it upon herself to help Will feel more alive and to help him live a life he thought he did not have anymore. She took him places and showed him how life does not simply end because he is in a wheelchair. I found this part of the movie so important as a future occupational therapy practitioner. Lou had to first and foremost figure out what Will enjoyed doing in life and plan activities around that. While there were no interventions or preparatory activities done beforehand, I think it is still just as important to help an individual get back to a life he or she enjoys living. Overall, that is what we are about as the profession of occupational therapy, and I think that Lou was definitely on the right track. Sadly, the movie still ends in a sad way with Will choosing to end his life because the psychological impact had been too great on him already. However, I can't help to think that if someone with the heart like Lou had intervened in Will's life sooner and showed him how wonderful life could still be, would he have chosen differently? Would he had wanted to make the most out of the life he still had?

Powell- Braden, S. (Executive producer), & Sharrock, T. (Director). (2016). Me Before You [Motion Picture]. United States: New Line Cinema