She was paralysed by a prank on her hen's night. This is what she wants you to know.

It was any bride-to-be’s worst nightmare.

In 2010, 25-year-old dance instructor Rachelle Friedman was celebrating her hen’s night with her closest friends, when one of them pushed her in a swimming pool as a prank.

Friedman fell awkwardly and hit her head on the bottom of the pool. She sustained a c6 spinal cord injury, and instantly became a quadriplegic.

After the accident, Rachelle wrote:

In the summer of 2010, at my bachelorette party, one of my best friends playfully pushed me into a pool. My head hit the bottom of the pool, and two of my vertebra shattered. The broken vertebra damaged my spinal chord enough to leave me permanently paralyzed from the chest down.

At that moment, my world fell apart, but I stayed as positive as I could be. My fiance at the time (now husband) was away on a camping trip with his family. When he heard the news, he rushed to the hospital, and never once left my side.

Despite that devastating and life-altering injury, Friedman has never once let it stop her from achieving her goals.

Since the accident, she has married her fiancé Chris, played wheelchair rugby, surfed using an adapted board, blogged for Huffington Post, written a best-selling book, and recently had a baby daughter via surrogacy.

She has been interviewed by a range of high-profile publications and is about to feature in a documentary about her life.

She recently participated in a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” session, and she impressed fellow Redditors with her positivity and overall attitude to life – especially regarding her friend who pushed her that night.

When asked by a Reddit user if she was still friends with the woman who pushed her, this was her response:

Over the years all friendships change when you’re living far apart, but I am not angry about the push itself. It was an accident and I’ve done it a million times. I think most people can say they’ve pushed someone into a pool playfully.

She also explained some of the challenges of life as a quadriplegic with a newborn:

I have limited dexterity so none of it is easy. Takes practice and I couldn’t really practice before I had an actual baby. Doing it on a doll and a squirming baby are two completely different things. I have changed a diaper but it took me a second. I had to use my teeth to pull the tabs tight.

But the best part of the Reddit thread came after Friedman mentioned she wanted to find a hair straightener that could be used by moving her wrist.

And because the internet can sometimes be wonderful, one Redditor responded by designing a prototype for a product that can help her.

Check out his video here and brace yourself for all of the feels:

This wasn’t Rachelle’s first Q&A session on Reddit. In 2013, she answered a series of questions about her injury – including some questions about her sexlife.

Reddit user: Do you still hold a grudge against the friend who pushed you? Are you still friends with him/her? What has s/he said and what does s/he think about your situation?

Rachelle: I love her and have no grudge. I’m not saying it’s right, but I’ve horse-played by a pool and pushed people. I’ve pushed her. What happened was an accident.

She obviously has guilt and it has been a process. She’s a lot better. I know she hates seeing me in the chair but this is a situation we have to work through together. She’s my girl.

Reddit user: Did you feel this way from the beginning? Just after it happened, i mean. Or did you have to work through feelings of anger and resentment? I’m not sure how I would feel about it, yes its an accident, but the push was not.

Rachelle: The push was not but I’ve done the same to her. OK, so I push her five times and we are joking around! She pushes me and on the fifth push I get hurt. So that makes her the careless evil one? I just didn’t see it that way. I was never angry at her.

Rachelle: Good question because coincidentally I was a lifeguard and so were two of the girls. They responded fast but I forgot my training and said get me out of here! We had no backboard. I remember looking all around and moving my head all over the place.

Reddit user: What was your husband’s reaction to the fact that your relationship with him would never be the exact same? And how did it change exactly, other than the fact that he has to help you out a lot more?

Rachelle: Well things did change but I can’t say in a bad way at all. Obviously our sex life is different. There were no “logistics” before and we could be way more spontaneous.

Now we have sex of course, but probably less because I might be in pain or something like that. Money is a factor because we were pretty even on that level before and now we rely on his teacher’s salary.

So it does add stress but we work through it. I’d say we are more passionate and clingy with each other. I think we are just so happy because my injury could have been worse. We are lucky to have each other.

Reddit user: What is your favorite thing to do sexually before the accident and now? Are you able to orgasm still?

Rachelle: Before the accident I had sex quite often. I didn’t enjoy anything over the other I just liked having orgasms! I was a really sexual person so this has been difficult. But I am more sensitive on places like my neck and I really enjoy sex. I don’t climax like I used to but I do get excited. And oddly enough my body feels relaxed after.

Rachelle: We didn’t have it until towards the end of rehab. Mostly because we didn’t have a big enough bed or privacy!

Reddit user: Have you discussed children with each other or with a doctor? I don’t really know much about quadriplegic pregnancies but I can’t imagine it would be easy.

Rachelle: Yes and we want kids badly. The spinal cord controls muscles so everything else is in working order. Once we get financially straight we are going to have one.

My issue is I take medication for low blood pressure that I won’t be able to take. I may just be bed ridden. But that’s just me. Many people with spinal cord injuries have easy pregnancies.

Reddit user: I was really moved by your story and your resilience of spirit. Have you always been a person who was able to handle the hard stuff in life? In what ways has your abrupt physical disability changed who you are as a person?

Rachelle: Thank you so much!! It’s hard to say because I’ve never been faced with something like this but I’m just a logical person, I guess. I had a great support system and I had Chris (love of my life). He deserved to have the girl he planned to marry.

I don’t mean physically but emotionally. I remained my funny, joking, outgoing self for me and all those around me. I think I get a little more reserved around new people because I have no grip to shake their hand. I do appreciate life more!

Reddit user: There was another AMA from a quadriplegic a while back that went in to agonizing detail about the nightmare that was him having no control over his bowels. Is that true of you and most quadriplegics as well?

Rachelle: Yes anyone from the waist down will most often have this problem. Some paralysed people can feel but be paralyzed. So that helps. Usually a suppository is used. I personally have a device to do my own digital stimulation. As long as you go on a consistent schedule you shouldn’t have accidents.

Reddit user: How do you feel about stem cell research?

Rachelle: I’m 100% for it. I was before the accident and I am after. I have a friend who traveled to Israel after his accident for stem cells. He was my level of injury and got his hands back.

What’s the most inspirational story you’ve ever heard?

Want more? Try these:

“The prank that made me a quadriplegic on my hen’s night”.

“I had no idea how my life was about to change.”

She was paralysed on her hen’s night. And now, she has some wonderful news.