They were like, “You’re crazy.” And I was like, “Well, who wants to be normal in this day and age anyway?”
Off you go.
Saxophone!
My name is Josh Drinkall, or Joshua Drinkall, or Joshui Drinkall. 16 years ago, I was driving my car ridiculously fast and then took out a lamppost with my own head.
The prognosis I was given was absolutely awful.
I’ve just been defying the doctors every day since.
I’ve done canoeing, horse riding, zip wiring, the indoor sport stuff. The last time I came up here with my dad was the first time I made it all the way to the top of the climbing wall, and I was on an absolute high for the rest of the holiday after that. I could not believe I scaled this 30-foot high wall, and yet rung the bell at the end as well, and it was really amazing.
It’s just great fun. I just love everything about it, and I’m so happy that my mum found it, because yeah, I love the outdoors, I love the Lake District.
There’s not a thing at all that I don’t like about this place.
What I like about it as well, that your little group of people that you get put with, and yeah, by the end of the thing, yeah, you’re best mates by the end of it as well, yeah. I’ve played the saxophone for about 33 years now. Play all the greats as well, like Baggy Trousers, Baker Street, Tequila. Ba-dip-dip-ba-do-dip-dip-dip.
People always come over to me and ask me what I’m busking for, whatever, and I hand them leaflets, and they go into their pocket and pull out a 20. Since becoming disabled, I feel like I’ve been forgotten about by society. People just walk past you in the street and just give you some dirty sideways glance. Up here, my disability is actually, I’ve seen, more of an ability than a disability, because I hate that word disability, because I feel like I’m superhuman compared to all the able-bodied people or whatever anyway, yeah.
And I also like the way that the word can’t or no doesn’t really exist up here as well, yeah. I come on the five-day long holiday in the middle of the summer, normally about a month or so before my birthday in August, yeah, because yeah, July is the best time up here.
There is always a sunshine over the hill, and then yeah, life will get better. And yeah, as long as you put in the time and effort to rehabilitation, you will get better.
Yeah. Can’t go any higher, buddy.
This is as high as I can possibly go.
I was gonna leave you there.
No, yeah, that’s fine. Yeah, like, yeah, that’s fine. Yeah, course that’s fine.
