Suzanne talks about her life and how this year she is celebrating a very special birthday:

My name is Suzanne Tucker and I will be celebrating my fiftieth birthday this July, a milestone for most people but for me it is something very special as I was born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) of which I have Type 2.

I have lived in the Braunton area most of my life. I went to Southmead School but at the age of ten I had to go to boarding school in Taunton as there were no wheelchair accessible schools in North Devon. Then I left school and retuned to Braunton and lived for eight and a half years at Westmead House Leonard Cheshire Disability Home. But I couldn’t see me spending the rest of my life there so I decided I wanted to move out and live independently. In 1990 I moved into my own flat with the support of a team of PAs (carers) which I employed. In 1998 I moved to a bungalow which is my current home. I also worked for Leonard Cheshire Disability at first doing wages for their Care Agency and then their Home and Day Centre. At the same time I also went to North Devon College (Petroc) and studied accountancy for three years. I am now a Member of the Association Of Accounting Technicians (MAAT) and now work for a local Care Agency doing their wages and work for myself doing bookkeeping jobs.