A brave young woman who broke her neck in a freak accident will appear on RTE's First Dates Ireland tonight.
Jenna Fitzgerald, 32, from Sligo, was left paralysed after diving into a swimming pool in Nerja in Spain.
The Enniscrone native broke her C5 vertebrae and woke up in hospital after her friend dived into the pool to save her.
She said: “My friend Ciaran jumped in and pulled me out. They were trying to calm me down. I was put in an induced coma for seven weeks.
“The best description is that I was stuck in a bad dream. It was all very surreal.
"You go to sleep one way and you wake up and you’re like ‘f***!’. Every aspect of my independence was gone.”
Although it was a long road to recovery, Jenna is now making the most of life and says "there's not much I can’t do".
The hotel receptionist said: "I go to the gym and I do weights and boxing and anything I can manage with my upper body.
“I have a hand bike now and I did the greenway recently with mates.
"My sense of adventure is back, my sense of spontaneity is back. It’s the new normal."
And having been single for nearly six years, she now hopes to meet someone special who shares her love of the outdoors.
Jenna explained: “It would be nice to go on adventures and discover how to live my life again.
“It’s very daunting. I’ve had a s*** show over the past five years. I’m only coming to terms with the person I am now."
She's been matched up with Robin, 32, from Westmeath and viewers can see if they hit it off on RTE2 at 9.30pm tonight.
