Emma Carey was only 20 years old when she suffered shocking injuries in a parachuting accident that left her paraplegic, yet less than five years later she believes the experience ultimately changed her life for the better.
On June 9, 2013, Ms Carey was skydiving with her best friend in the Swiss Alps on the trip of a lifetime, but when her parachute deployed it did not open properly.
Ms Carey was virtually freefalling when she hit the ground, breaking her L1, her pelvis, and shattering most of her teeth.
She spent four months recovering in hospital, learning how to use a body that was numb from the waist down.
She was told she would never walk again.
But Ms Carey, now 25 and living on the Gold Coast, said instead of letting her accident dictate her life she chose to view it from a different perspective, and spends her time helping people all over the world do the same.
A new way of thinking
Through her popular Instagram account, Ms Carey shares what it is like to live as a paraplegic who learned to walk again.
She posts about her physical progress and setbacks (of which there have been several), her friends and their road trips, her drawings and even the seldom-discussed world of self-administered catheters and enemas.
But the recurring theme across all of Ms Carey's posts is one of appreciation.
"The biggest impact [the accident] has had on my life positively would be just the fact that my whole view and perspective of life is totally different to what it was before; I just enjoy every day and everything in my body so much more," Ms Carey said.
"I guess I just try not to take anything for granted."
It is a mindset she has tried to share with her followers — especially young girls who are dealing with body image and self-esteem issues.
"I think just giving people a new perspective of how to look at their body that they might not have even thought of before is really important. Look at your body for what it does, rather that just how it looks," Ms Carey said.
"So instead of thinking, 'Oh my legs are a little bit fat', you think, 'Oh my legs work, they have muscles, they let me walk, and they let me jump'.
"Or instead of thinking, 'I don't like my eye colour', you think, 'My eyes let me see the world; they let me look at the people I love'.
"I think it's a lot harder to hate your body or point out things that are wrong with it when you realise how much it does for you — it's a lot easier to love it."
Talks and tears
Since last year, Ms Carey has started writing a book and, most recently, performed motivational talks to share her story in person.
It was during one of these talks on the Gold Coast this month, when young girls were approaching her in tears, that she realised the impact of her efforts.
"People were coming up to me and genuinely crying, saying how much my posts have helped them or changed their view on things, or changed their life," she said.
"Even though I know people read it, it's really hard to comprehend that it can have an effect on people's lives until they're there telling you."
An 'authentic influencer'
University of Queensland social media expert Dr Nicholas Carah said Ms Carey's posts resonated with people because of their honesty and authenticity.
"One of the things I've seen emerge on Instagram is this new sort of person called an 'influencer'. They create these accounts that get lots of engagement because of the authenticity of their storytelling," Dr Carah said.
She said social media could be likened to a "continuous reality TV show, but produced by yourself" in the sense that it enabled more people to document their lives and speak in public than was possible before.
"In the past, when someone had a traumatic event or a story about overcoming hardship, they might have written a book or periodically appeared on a radio program ... what social media enables is this kind of continuous first-person storytelling.
"In the case of [Ms Carey], that is to speak about issues that don't get lots of coverage in mainstream media, or speak from a lived experience that's not particularly visible otherwise."
Ms Carey has shared stories of losing bowel or bladder control in public, she has talked about experiencing panic attacks and she regularly discusses how she has learnt to use a "totally different body that doesn't function properly".
But despite all those daily reminders of living with a spinal cord injury, Ms Carey would not change a thing.
"I always thought that after my accident, because it was something so devastating, I didn't think there was any way that could possibly become a good thing. But it really has; my life is so much better for it," she said.
"A bad situation can turn into the best thing that ever happened to you, if you make it."
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