"To Exist As I Am" is one of those rare audiobooks that stays with you long after you’ve finished listening. Grace Spence Green shares her story with such clarity, strength, and vulnerability that it’s impossible not to be moved.

The book chronicles her journey from being an active medical student to navigating life after a life-changing accident that left her paralyzed. What makes this memoir especially compelling is Grace’s unique perspective—her medical background adds depth and insight, while her personal reflections bring raw emotion and authenticity.

Listening to Grace narrate her own story adds another layer of intimacy. Her voice is calm yet powerful, and her words are filled with purpose. She doesn’t shy away from the hard truths—about pain, about society’s treatment of people with disabilities, and about the emotional and physical challenges of adapting to a new reality. But she also speaks with hope, resilience, and a clear desire to make a difference.

This book made me reflect deeply—not just on disability, but on how we as a society can and must do better. Grace’s courage and determination are truly inspiring. I learned so much from her story, and I’m grateful she chose to share it.

Highly recommended for anyone looking for a meaningful, thought-provoking, and beautifully told memoir.

This book was truly one of the best I have ever read so forgive me as I struggle to put it into words.

Grace writes with poise, clarity and empathy about having a disability in a world that is not built for them. Her maturity and levity comes across in every sentence, making it starkly clear that this book has been simmering for many years, and boy am I glad it has come to the surface.

Memoirs consistently surprise me, with a person's ability to be so honest and raw with not only themselves but also their audience. But this one truly took my breath away. I was hanging onto every word that Grace so eloquently spoke, and hearing her own voice recount her worst and best moments since becoming disabled was incredibly moving. She advocates so strongly for herself and others and she was a powerhouse to listen to. She does not shy away from the brutality of what she experienced,, but nor does she glorify it, careful to stray away from stereotypes of trauma porn inspiration. Her book not only highlights the power of community but also the dire need for us as a society to change the way that disability is perceived.

I really appreciated her reflections on how systematic power dynamics for marginalised groups impact a person's experience of disability, and it is clear that her own disability and time in hospital have made her a fantastic, thoughtful and passionate doctor who is determined to advocate for her patients and their care. I could not recommend this book more if I tried!

An interesting account of Grace's experience of becoming a person with a disability and a wheelchair user. Through Grace's narrative, we're told about the accident that caused her disability, her experience of the accident and the time in hospital after that, and her feelings surrounding her new disability and the person who caused it. The way Grace talks of the people she meets after her accident, the friends she makes, and the friends and family that rallied around her really speaks to connection and also how the way she connects with people after becoming disabled changes. She recounts a lot of stories that aren't positive, as well, the people who don't know how to interact with her now, those who are invasive, cruel, and rude, those who single her out as different. In contrast to that is the strength of her connections to her friends and her family, to the odd stranger, and to those experiencing similar things at similar times.

It's really hard to rate someone's personal story!

I hadn't seen anything about Grace's story in the news and came to this audiobook via the blurb on Netgalley. I was drawn to the word “acceptance’ and terms like life affirming..

Whilst studying as a medical student, a chance visit to a shopping centre changed Grace’s life. A man jumping from the third floor fell on Grace damaging her spine…This incredible account takes Grace from before to after. It takes us through the early days in hospital, rehabilitation, rejoining her medical studies and then working as a Doctor and becoming a champion for inclusion.

Grace is the perfect narrator to tell her own story and hearing her voice is very moving and adds a particular power and intimacy to the audiobook. I imagine that there must have been particularly difficult moments for Grace in reading this.

There is so much that I took from this inspirational account. I had no idea what recovery from such an injury involved - learning how to get in and out of bed/wheelchair, regularising bowel movements, driving.. And all the way through the recovery section I was very conscious of the randomness of the accident, the dramatic impact on Grace’s life and the words, “what if” hovered all the way through my read. What if he hadn’t jumped, what if Grace hadn’t been there.

As Grace goes back to work we realise how exceptional her situation is. She sits through lectures on spinal conditions where her condition is labelled as worst case scenario. She works with Doctors who don’t know how to include her in their teaching; in hospitals where her wheelchair is regarded as a problem.

Radical Acceptance is possibly the most powerful and life-affirming section of this book as Grace turns the exceptional nature of her situation into a force for change both in her own life, that of her patients and inclusivity in general. One particular incident stood out for me when Grace challenges a man in the pub who makes fun of her wheelchair. This was something of a turning point and a moment when Grace began to realise that she was worthy, that she did matter.

This is a moving and inspiring audiobook and I think everyone should listen or read this. I think books like this are an invaluable tool in promoting understanding and inspiring empathy.

With many thanks to Profile Books Audio for my copy of this audiobook.

In 2018, Grace Spence Green was involved in a life changing incident which saw her catapulted from being a 22 year old medical student to a spinal chord injured patient coming to terms with life in a wheelchair.
The account is moving ,inspiring and challenging in equal measures. As a person with an acquired disability myself the societal barriers facing disabled people highlighted in this book are sadly all too relatable. Similarly the medical approach to disability focusing predominantly on rehabilitation was highlighted to good effect with all its deficits. I have spent many years advocating for re-configuration rather than rehabilitation as a far more appropriate approach to supporting disabled people and this book certainly aligns with this viewpoint.
I feel the book will serve as a useful challenge to the medical profession and a source of comfort to those fighting similar battles as they navigate through a system determined to make disabled people fit their own agendas.
I am grateful to the publishers and NetGalley for an advanced listener copy of this audiobook which is narrated by the author herself.

I’ll preface this review by saying that this book had my attention right from the cover. I am disabled from a spinal injury, and before even starting the book, I saw representation and a provocative title - To Exist As I Am. This immediately conjured thoughts that pass through my mind on a regular basis - How does someone adapt to exist as a disabled person? Dr Grace Spence Green addresses this perfectly in this book.

Through this book, the reader (or listener in my case!) can follow Grace’s lived experience, from the accident which caused her to become disabled, the gruelling rehabilitation process (told in an adaptation of diary entries which, somehow, even in the face of the circumstances, include unexpected humour), to life outside of hospitals, returning to her medical studies, and to continued thoughts about life with a disability. Although my own injury didn’t result in paralysis, my mobility is severely impacted, and I suffer from chronic, constant pain. So much of Grace’s words and thoughts about living as a disabled person were echoes of my own thoughts - particularly in relation to the way that others perceive you, and how their words and actions come from a good place, but can often be a source of frustration to the person who is disabled. Crucial discussions are had about the lack of representation and accessibility, and Grace does not pull punches in regards to her (very valid) thoughts about these.

I would thoroughly recommend that, for those so inclined, you listen to the audiobook of this title, as Grace’s thoughts and anecdotes are perfectly delivered when read by the author herself. Her stoic articulation of extremely difficult circumstances and realisations are given additional power by being spoken by the author. Throughout, Grace’s incredible strength and resilience is evident both in her words and voice.

Who is this book for? I would highly recommend it to both disabled and able bodied readers. Grace describes how, when first faced with her as a disabled person, many people struggled as to how to react, how to speak to her, and were unsure how to articulate their feelings. However, with repeated exposure to a person with disabilities, this lessens. Through reading this book, one can almost feel as if you are in this situation-learning how to interact with a disabled person, stripping away the thought of them as disabled, and seeing the person - that you have always known - as who they are - they are not defined by disability, it does not override their personality or qualities. Even as a disabled person myself, I learned a great deal from listening to Grace’s story and felt empowered by hearing thoughts similar to mine - often thoughts which I might have written off as selfish, or unfair, which I have not had the courage to articulate myself.

Visibility and representation of disabled people is extremely important, and in this book, Grace does great service to both. The book chronicles an incredible journey of recovery (although I’m not sure Grace would appreciate the use of this word) and adaptation, gripping the reader throughout with powerful anecdotes which range from highly emotional to utterly hilarious.