Meet the guest
Matt Lizzimore
There is nothing Drive Editor Matt Lizzimore doesn’t know about cars and he’s ready to share his knowledge. Each episode, Matt will share entertaining, need-to-know car chat, and his favourite gadget of the week. By making the automotive world easier to understand, Matt hopes to empower Motability Scheme customers to choose a vehicle that’s right for them.
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Series 2 Episode 6 – Transcript
Sophie: Hi, I’m Sophie-Marie Odom, Lifestyle Magazine’s editor. Sam: And I’m Samantha Renke, broadcaster and disability rights campaigner. And I am currently dialling in from a not-so-sunny Lancashire. And as always, a huge welcome to The Motability Lifestyle Pod. In this podcast, we invite our friends from the disability community into the studio for a conversation about how we all can live our best life, particularly when navigating a disabling world. Sophie: Now as this is the last episode of Series Two. Sam: No! It’s come too fast! Sophie: You may know this already because you hear me say it week-after-week. But for those who are just tuning in, welcome. And if you’re listening to us in your car, you can also watch the full episode on YouTube, complete with captions in British Sign Language. Also, make sure to click Subscribe or Follow wherever you’re listening, so you’re the first to know of each new episode. Sam, it’s the last episode of the series. Sam: I know, I’m so sad. I don’t know about you, but I feel like it’s been such an upheaval in a sense of a new studio. Me moving away, having an operation, winning awards, and I feel like we’ve only just kind of settled into it. And now we’re like, “We’re done!” I’m like, “What’s happening!” But we will have a very special treat from our very, very own Matt Lizzimore who will be joining us for the whole episode! He’s trying to get our spot Sophie! He’s trying to nuzzle in. He’s going to overshine all of us. Matt: You two are still very much the main characters. I’m just the supporting cast. What a joy it is for me to spend a morning with my two favourite podcast hosts. Sophie: Welcome, Matt. In this episode, we’ll be transporting listeners back to Motability’s The Big Event which took place back in May at Birmingham’s NEC. While we were there, we asked visitors to share their questions with us. So in this last episode you, our listeners, are our special guests for this week as we’ll be answering your questions. Sam, how are you? Sam: I’m feeling a little bit emotional. It’s quite stressful at the moment, you know, I absolutely love that we get to talk to our listeners. I think, right at the beginning, do you remember early on in season one, I think that’s what we wanted to do. We were kind of- We always aimed to get everyone involved and we wanted this to very much be a community and a combined effort. So I’m so grateful that everyone has absolutely got some questions for us. I love that, I adore that. Sophie: So for listeners, Sam, tell us why you’re not joining us in the studio today. Sam: Yeah. So, gosh. So I’m a bit lazy, no I’m only joking, couldn’t be bothered. No, I had an operation on my leg a few weeks ago, so when I was a little, little girl, I had some telescopic rods put into my legs and, in theory, they should have grown with me as I grew older. However, they just decided one day that they didn’t like being in my legs anymore, so they decided to start coming out of my bones. So if you’re a bit squeamish, sorry about that. Long story short, I needed to get a big telescopic rod removed from my leg and it’s been quite a lengthy process and I’m sure a lot of the listeners and viewers can totally relate because I’ve had these conversations in the past. I just didn’t connect- Putting it politely, didn’t connect with my surgeon in London and we didn’t agree on a few things. And I’m a huge advocate, very similar to when you’re buying a car, you know, you don’t just go to a car dealership and go, “I’ll have that one.” You do your research, you shop around, you know, because your body, like a car, your body is hugely important and I don’t think we talk about medical autonomy enough. So I held out and I was in a privileged position because, you know, the pain was manageable. But I held out until I felt really comfortable with a new surgeon who understood my needs from a holistic point of view, you know, understood that disabled people, we’ve got busy lives. We’ve got families to support. You know, if an operation is going to be so impactful, it needs to be right. It needs to be at the right time and you need to make sure that you’ve got the support in place afterwards. I’m really grateful because it went really, really well. You’ll be proud of me, both of you. I did it on local anesthetic. Can you believe that? They took this huge rod out my leg on local anesthetic, and I wish I would have recorded it because apparently I was saying some very, very hilarious things. So there we go. I was probably spilling all the beans about both of you.
