A woman who was left paralysed from the waist down last year is looking for love… but here’s why she WON’T go on The Undateables
An evening on the town in May 2016 changed Francesca Antoniazzi's life forever when she banged her head and suffered a bleed on the brain
A PARTY loving woman is on a mission to find love a year after suffering a life-changing injury.
Francesca Antoniazzi, 27, from Bangor, Wales, was left paralysed after breaking her back during a fall on a night out.
Before the heart-breaking accident, the fitness fan enjoyed going to the gym five times a week and social nights out with her friends.
Sadly, an evening on the town in May 2016 changed her life forever when she banged her head and suffered a bleed on the brain.
Tragically, Francesca was left paralysed from the waist down and is now wheelchair-bound.
She remembered: "Obviously I was devastated, but at the same time I felt like I had no other choice but to accept it. What else can you do?
"Hospital soon got tedious, and when I found out they estimated I'd be there for six months, I made a promise to myself that I'd get out sooner.
"I just wanted to my life to go back to normal again - or as normal as it could - so I forced myself to learn as much as possible just so I could leave earlier."
Since getting her life back on track and returning to work, Francesca hopes that her disability won't leave her single.
She hasn't dated anyone since the fall and hopes to find love.
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Francesca said: "I wasn't in a relationship at the time of my fall and I've not dated anyone since.
"It's one of the things I worry most about now that I'm disabled - I'm scared of being alone for the rest of my life. People reassure me that I won't, but it has played on my mind."
Even though Francesca is actively looking for love, she repeatedly turned down invites to join Channel 4's The Undateables.
She said: "I've been emailed by three times asking me to go on the show.
"I've never watched it but It feels like they're saying that I'm absolutely undateable because I'm in a wheelchair, and I don't want to define myself like that.
"I won't do it. It makes me feel a bit rubbish about myself, like maybe that I am undateable? As soon as I'm in a wheelchair, does that make me undateable?"
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Despite her traumatic injuries, the determined sports lover is adamant that she won't let the accident get in the way of her living her life.
She has since climbed Mount Snowdon in her wheelchair and taken up basketball and weightlifting.
She is also part of the Our Squad initiative for South Wales, which is about inspiring women and girls to be active and empowering them through sport.
Francesca said: "I was determined that not everything had to be different about my life just because I was in a wheelchair, and I decided to go back to the gym.
"I went back into a routine. I can't reach half the equipment so I've got to rely on someone else to be with me there, but my dad comes along and we go three times a week so I can do weightlifting.
"I've got so into weightlifting that I even competed in the British Championships last month, and I'll do more competitions in future."
Francesca is part of the initiative from , aimed at inspiring, empowering and encouraging more women and girls in Wales to get active and give sport a go. Join #OurSquad by visiting the or finding them on .