Carolyne Underwood (born 1982) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

television personality. She became

paralysed Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 ...

in January 2007 when she had

spinal cord The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue, which extends from the medulla oblongata in the brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone). The backbone encloses the central canal of the spi ...

lesion after a

blood vessel The blood vessels are the components of the circulatory system that transport blood throughout the human body. These vessels transport blood cells, nutrients, and oxygen to the tissues of the body. They also take waste and carbon dioxide away ...

burst in her back while she slept.

Background

A former bar manager, Underwood now uses a

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

although she is determined to walk again. Initially, she had thought she would be well again within a few months, but had further complications to her condition and been told it is unlikely she will ever recover. In 2008, she received a donation of £24,000 from a mystery benefactor to enable her to fly to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to receive

stem cell therapy Stem-cell therapy is the use of stem cells to treat or prevent a disease or condition. , the only established therapy using stem cells is hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. This usually takes the form of a bone-marrow transplantation, but ...

. Her health condition prevented her from taking up the opportunity at that time. She lives in

Stalybridge Stalybridge () is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 23,731 at the 2011 Census. Historic counties of England, Historically divided between Cheshire and Lancashire, it is east of Manchester city centre and no ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

Reality TV contestant

Underwood was one of the first disabled

Reality TV Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

show contestants to appear in two different Reality TV shows about disability.

Sophie Morgan Sophie Morgan (born 1985) is a disabled British television presenter and disability advocate who is a paraplegic. She became a presenter after appearing on reality television. In 2021, she was a lead presenter for Channel 4's TV coverage of th ...

, who appeared in

Beyond Boundaries ''Beyond Boundaries'' is a reality TV series produced by Diverse Bristol for BBC Two. Each series follows a team of adventurers with disabilities as they take on some of the toughest expeditions on the planet under the guidance of ex- SAS Majo ...

and

Britain's Missing Top Model ''Britain's Missing Top Model'' is a British Reality TV modelling show for disabled women, aired on BBC Three. The premiere episode aired on 1 July 2008. The show courted controversy, with many arguing that the show made disability a spectat ...

, is the other disabled woman who has also appeared in two reality shows in the UK. Underwood participated in

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...

's ''

Dancing on Wheels ''Dancing on Wheels'' is a British Reality TV show made by production company Fever Media and first broadcast on BBC Three on 11 February 2010. The concept of the show is that an able-bodied celebrity dances with a wheelchair user. The couples d ...

'' in 2010, competing in a

ballroom dancing Ballroom dance is a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television. ...

competition with the English

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

player

Martin Offiah Martin Nwokocha Offiah MBE ( (''original pronunciation''), (''commonly used'')); born 29 December 1965) is an English former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Offiah was inducted i ...

as her dancing partner, and in the first series of ''

The Undateables ''The Undateables'' was a British reality television series that follows a range of people on dates who have long term conditions, including: disabilities, developmental disorders, neurodevelopmental conditions, and learning difficulties. The ...

'' which was shown on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

in 2012. Underwood also appeared briefly at the end of the second series of 'The Undateables' in an episode shown on Channel 4 on 5 February 2013 entitled 'Series One Revisited', and in Episode 5 of Series 4 in February 2015 in an episode entitled "Two weddings and a baby".

Personal life

In 2014, Underwood gave birth to a son called Declan Channel 4. "Two weddings and a baby". The Undateables. Series 4. Episode 5.
/ref>

References

External links

'After a Girls Night out Doctors said I'd be in a wheelchair for Life'.

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...

. Retrieved 6 October 2012
Carolyne Underwood
on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Underwood, Carolyne 1982 births Living people English people with disabilities People with paraplegia Place of birth missing (living people)