A It is madness, the expense is colossal. I think it is one of the reasons my first marriage broke up. My husband said it was crazy, like digging a hole and throwing money into it.

Above her desk, there is the famous Banksy picture of the rat, with the words: "I'm out of bed and dressed – what more do you want?" daubed in red paint. "That's very much my motto, these days," she says, wryly.I would be immensely flattered if even that was half the case,” she says. “But there are compensations: I have enjoyed so many things since my accident that I never thought I could enjoy. The sound of silence; the stillness; the minutiae of life; watching the birds. Watching insect life. I never had a bird table before my accident; I was too busy.”

Over the years, Reid has also gained an understanding of the politics of disability. The columns she wrote while she was determined to recover were sincere, and the admiration they provoked was justified. But there are those who believe the raising up of individuals for their determination to overcome their limitations promotes the idea that others aren't trying hard enough. Paralysed from the top of her chest down, she was to spend almost a full year in hospital, determinedly working towards gaining as much movement in her limbs as possible, and learning to navigate her way through a world that had previously been invisible to her. In 2014 Gregor approached Times columnist Melanie Reid to help him tell his story. Together they travelled through the mining villages of central Scotland to uncover the mystery of his birth and early life. What emerged was a story of secrets, deception, tragic accidents and early death, coldness and rejection from some, but a welcome from the most unexpected of quarters.And so she watches the siskins, the goldfinches, the redpolls, the yellowhammers (“I’m boasting now”) – birds she would never have seen when her eyes were shut to them.