Melanie Reid

Melanie Reid MBE (born 1957) is an award-winning Times journalist whose weekly column for The Times, 'Spinal Column',^[1] is about disability and her life as a disabled person. She broke her neck and back in April 2010 whilst horse riding,^[2] and is now a tetraplegic. Following her accident she spent twelve months in the spinal unit of Southern General Hospital in Glasgow.

Career

Reid was a columnist at The Herald in Glasgow and a former associate editor of The Sunday Mail before joining The Times and reporting and commentating from Scotland.

She was named 2011 Columnist of the Year in the British Press Awards,^[3] and in 2012 she was awarded broadsheet Columnist of the Year.^[4] Her column generates hundreds of letters, emails and comments every week.

Reid said of her writing: "A lot of people take inspiration from it. I have a black sense of humour, I think you have to have in this situation. You have to try to keep going and tell it like it is."^[5]

In June 2014, Reid received an honorary degree from the University of Stirling "in recognition of her contribution to journalism, to disability rights and awareness, and for being an inspirational example of human resilience and dignity".^[6]

Reid was the ghostwriter for actor Gregor Fisher's 2015 autobiography The Boy from Nowhere. A tie-in documentary, In Search of Gregor Fisher, broadcast on BBC One Scotland, followed Reid and Fisher during part of their research for the book.

Reid was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to journalism and to people with disabilities.^[7]

Personal life

Reid is married, has a son, and lives in Stirlingshire, Scotland.

References