Paralympian suing U of R tells court about challenges after accident left her a quadriplegic

A Paralympian says doing simple things like recoveringfrom a scratch and making a bed have become immensely more difficultsince an accident left her a quadriplegic.

Miranda Biletski is suing the University of Regina fornegligence.

Biletski dove into a pool from competition starting blocks at theuniversity during a swim club practice in June 2005.

Thethen-16-year-old hit the bottom and fractured her cervicalvertebrae, leaving her a quadriplegic.

The Paralympic wheelchair rugby player testified before a juryTuesday that she got a scratch on her tail bone while transferringout of her wheelchair in July 2015.

A couple of days later, the scratch was a festering wound withblack skin. The wound grew to "probably about the size of a hockeypuck" and the tip of her tail bone could be seen, she said. It'sstill healing, she said.

Biletski teared up on the stand as she talked about takingclasses at Camosun College in Victoria. The college is in the samebuilding as the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence, where shetrained. Biletski said she thought it would be a good combination oftraining and attending class.

But she ended up having to leave the school on compassionatemedical grounds.

"The straw that really broke the camel's back with that one wasone of my professor's made me provide a note saying I missed classto have a bowel movement," she tearfully testified.

Court has heard that Biletski has to put in her own catheter togo to the bathroom several times a day and that a bowel movement nowtakes her a couple of hours.

Biletski the first woman on Canada's wheelchair rugby team can move her arms and shoulders, but has limited use of her hands.