Accident victims warn teenagers of risks

Quadriplegic Adrian Dieleman of Smartrisk

More than 4,000 teenagers in England are to attend a hard-hitting roadshow aimed at teaching youngsters how to avoid taking needless risks.

The show, called "Heroes" has been devised by Canadian-based charity Smartrisk, and has been brought to the UK by Leeds Health Authority.

It shows teenagers the reality of living with disabilities caused by sports injuries, car crashes, taking part in dangerous pursuits, or just messing around.

The charity offers advice about the prevention and control of injuries and aims to make children think before they take risks.

Tricky questions

One of those talking at the Heroes event, Adrian Dieleman, has had to use a wheelchair since a drink-driving road accident.

He was 22 when he crashed his car, which was full of friends at the time.

Mr Dieleman injured his spinal cord and is now a quadriplegic.

After the launch of the campaign in Leeds on Tuesday, he said: "They (the teenagers) asked me everything, from how fast was I driving, how much had I had to drink, do I still drink, how do I have sex, how do I visit the toilet?"

Dr Conn's charity is based in Canada

The charity was founded by heart surgeon Dr Robert Conn, who found himself increasingly distressed at the number of people dying needlessly in accidents.

He said: "It got to the stage where I couldn't stand taking the hearts out of people who shouldn't have been dying."

At the spinal injuries unit at Wakefield Pinderfields Hospital, they welcomed the road show to England.

Peter Handley, of the Spinal Injuries Association, said: "Anything that gets rid of the myth that 'it couldn't happen to me' should be welcomed."