Luke’s life changed forever after freak accident
Our colleague Luke Pierce has spoken about how his life changed in a split second - and how support from Adult Disability Payment has helped him to adapt to his condition.
Before joining Social Security Scotland, Luke served for 13 years in the Royal Navy, working aboard vessels including HMS Ark Royal, HMS Defender and HMS Prince of Wales. But in 2017, during a football game at HMS Nelson, he was struck in the head by an over-inflated ball.
“I had no chance of getting out of the way. I knew something was wrong because I couldn’t hear properly,” he said.
“To be honest, I had better odds of winning the lottery that day than having the injury I ended up with. It was unbelievably unlucky.”
The impact perforated his eardrum and dislocated a bone in his inner ear. What initially appeared to be a serious ear injury developed into a range of long-term health problems, including chronic dizziness, balance difficulties and the loss of his sense of taste following surgery.
As his condition worsened, walking became increasingly difficult. Just days before he was medically discharged from the Navy in 2021, his legs suddenly stopped functioning properly.
After emergency hospital treatment and extensive tests, doctors diagnosed Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), a condition that affects how the brain sends and receives signals throughout the body.
Today, Luke, lives with unpredictable symptoms that can vary significantly from day to day. At times he experiences numbness and tingling in his legs, while on other days severe fatigue and mobility problems mean he relies on crutches.
“The top half of me is absolutely fine,” he said. “My mind works perfectly well. But my lower body doesn’t always want to cooperate.
“Sometimes my foot will just freeze and I have to physically remind myself how to walk again. I can have weeks where things seem better and then the next day the symptoms come back.”
Following his discharge, Luke rebuilt his life with his wife, Niki, and now works with us. Alongside support from family, he says Adult Disability Payment has helped him manage the additional costs of living with a disability.
“People don’t always see the extra costs that come with a disability,” he said. “Things like mobility equipment, travel, car adaptations and heating all add up. Adult Disability Payment helps with those costs and makes a real difference.”
Luke hopes his experience highlights how quickly circumstances can change.
“One day I was serving in the Royal Navy and planning my future. The next, my life was heading in a completely different direction,” he said. “Disability can happen to anyone.
“For people like me, support helps us live our lives as independently as possible.”
On Remembrance Sunday, Luke reunited with former colleagues in London for the first time since leaving the Navy in 2021. It was a milestone that reflects how far he has come since an injury that changed the course of his life. As he continues to adapt to life with FND, his focus is firmly on the future.
“It’s not the life I expected,” he said. “But I’ve got a lot of support, and I’m determined to keep moving forward.”