{"id":14295,"date":"2020-06-21T10:10:14","date_gmt":"2020-06-21T09:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ounews.co\/?p=14295"},"modified":"2020-06-21T10:10:14","modified_gmt":"2020-06-21T09:10:14","slug":"a-new-journey-for-disabled-veterans-like-daniel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/student-stories\/a-new-journey-for-disabled-veterans-like-daniel\/","title":{"rendered":"A new journey for disabled veterans like Daniel"},"content":{"rendered":"

After joining the Army at just 16 years old, OU student Daniel Bingley was flying high in a military career when a terrible injury turned his world upside down.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2012, I was injured in Iraq following an explosion,\u201d Daniel tells us. \u201cIt seriously damaged my ears and I still really struggle with my hearing.\u201d Whilst in service, a terrible fall severely damaged both his knees meaning that he often requires the use of a wheelchair.<\/p>\n

\u201cI received two years of rehabilitation but in the end, I was medically discharged.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I felt like I\u2019d lost it all\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Daniel now had to adjust to his life outside the military while coping with his physical disability. He had nothing to occupy his mind and wasn\u2019t able to play the sports he enjoyed so much to keep himself busy. Dark thoughts started to close in, and Daniel slipped into depression.<\/p>\n

It was at this time that Daniel signed up with Help for Heroes<\/a>, who introduced him to sports he was able to do. They also promoted The Open University\u2019s Disabled Veterans\u2019 Scholarships Fund<\/a> to Daniel, which provides free education for those injured during service.<\/p>\n

Daniel applied to study a BSc (Honours) degree in Computing & IT and was part of the first year of students to start their scholarship in 2018. Since then, the OU has offered 105 to servicemen and women to help them rebuild their futures.<\/p>\n

‘Studying helps me mentally and with my disability’<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Daniel says that distance learning gives him the flexibility to learn in his own time, in his own way. He has a structure in place that works around his mental health and physical disability, and also has the OU\u2019s support team to help him through his learning journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter being injured and struggling with life, I couldn\u2019t see what my options were. The Open University gives me flexibility, so I can work around my sports training. It also helps me mentally and with my disability. So, if I wake up in the middle of the night, I can get some work done. It works around me. The OU\u2019s support is also great, they help with work placements and they try to accommodate your situation to help you learn to the best of your abilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Life doesn\u2019t stop when you\u2019re injured<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Through his degree, Daniel can put his interest in IT and the training he received in the military to the best use. His ultimate goal is to show employers just how much disabled veterans can bring to the workplace and to begin working within the computer science industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing injured is being injured, your life doesn\u2019t stop. Having the drive and determination to learn but without the opportunity is very frustrating. Everyone strives to better themselves, everyone\u2019s got to have an end game and the Disabled Veterans\u2019 Scholarships Fund offers the opportunity to keep learning, that\u2019s what really makes a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exceptional support for exceptional people<\/strong>\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Despite suffering unimaginable trauma, both physically and mentally, disabled veterans like Daniel haven\u2019t lost their determination and drive. They want to build a bright and secure future for themselves and their families. The Disabled Veterans\u2019 Scholarships Fund can help make this a reality.<\/p>\n

Apply for the Disabled Veterans\u2019 Scholarships Fund <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>If you\u2019ve been injured in, or due to, military service, you could be funded to complete a full Open University qualification just like Daniel.<\/p>\n

We have 50 spaces available and you can apply online before applications close at midnight on 30th<\/sup> June. Apply for the Disabled Veterans Scholarships Fund today.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Carly Sumner Sinfield is a Digital Content Officer in the Development Office at The Open University. She loves telling stories and has spent the past 10 years writing about everything from nappy bags to balance transfers. She holds a BA (Hons) in Journalism and Media Studies from Coventry University. When she\u2019s not writing, Carly enjoys reading, sharing good food with great people, and all things colourful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After joining the Army at just 16 years old, OU student Daniel Bingley was flying high in a military career when a terrible injury turned his world upside down. \u201cIn 2012, I was injured in Iraq following an explosion,\u201d Daniel tells us. \u201cIt seriously damaged my ears and I still really struggle with my hearing.\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14297,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,18,22],"tags":[159,630,632,937,1525,1640,2352],"class_list":["post-14295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-computing-communications","category-student-stories","category-university-news","tag-army","tag-disability","tag-disabled-veteran-fund","tag-funding","tag-news-home","tag-ou-home","tag-veteran"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}