A life-changing accident doesn’t always wreck your life, says Judy Finnigan

Henry Fraser was paralysed on lads’ holiday Thank God the majority of us will totter to our graves never having to find out. But maybe that’s wrong. To thank God, I mean. Perhaps – just perhaps – a devastatingly crippling misfortune can amazingly turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to us. That’s certainly the case with Henry Fraser. He says so himself. So incredible is his story that it’s just been turned into a West End musical. Andrew Lloyd Webber, no less, described it this week as: ‘The most exciting night I’ve had in a theatre for years. This tale of conquering disability will be an international smash.’ And what is Henry’s tale? In 2009 he was a 17-year-old sports-mad teenager, diving in the sea off Praia da Luz in the Algarve. Henry hit the seabed head-first and snapped his spinal cord. Friends dragged his inert body from the water and a few hours later, in hospital, Henry was told by a surgeon that he’d never again be able to walk or use his arms. He was going to be a tetraplegic for the rest of his life. Read more The driving accident that changed everything- the little big things review What that surgeon couldn’t possibly have known – or the appalled 17-year-old lying before him – were a couple of other things. That Henry would become an internationally renowned artist, for example, learning to use his mouth alone to create extraordinary wildlife paintings. Or that he would, barely within a year of becoming paralysed, also become the happiest he had ever been. Speaking this week after the musical The Little Big Things opened to rave reviews, Henry said that the anxiety and depression which had plagued him from as early as he could remember has vanished. ‘I savour every moment of every day,’ he said. ‘Whether it’s simply enjoying a cup of tea… or the feel of the sun on my face… or just looking at the view from my window… nothing passes me by. I value it all. Acceptance has let me live and love my life.’ Henry says if he could somehow talk to his former self just after the accident, he’d implore the teenager not to worry. ‘You’re going to be happy!’ And a gifted artist, too. Why won’t the eco zealots believe people don’t want to buy electric cars? Not everyone wants an electric car The Soviets learned the hard way that you can’t force what people buy with their own money. Even back in the USSR, folk were surprisingly resistant to being manipulated in the market. GUM was the Moscow superstore famously with nothing anyone wanted to buy, except western tourists looking for something rubbish to bring home for a laugh. It’s not so different here with electric cars. Disappointing sales. Why? Because most motorists do not trust them – their range, their recharging points (too few, too slow) and not least their price. No wonder Rishi Sunak ditched the ban on new petrol and diesel cars. People will buy electric when they want to. And they’ll only want to when they can do a 400- to 500-mile trip without refuelling, and when it only takes three minutes to charge fully and not hours. Our free-market economy works on choice – not worthy diktats. How strange multi-billionaire Rishi only just learned that. SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info Children are more important than privacy I’m so glad there were no mobiles when my kids were young