Lewis Headley 2026 Audio Recording
This is an audio recording of the 2026 Lewis Headley Lecture which took place on Friday 6th February 2026 at City St George's Law School, London.
Challenging Narratives; My experience of medicine and disability
Speaker: Grace Spence Green
Grace Spence Green sustained a spinal cord injury in 2017 as a 4th year medical student in a freak incident and was left paraplegic. She has since qualified and completed her foundation training as one of the few wheelchair using doctors. Her book, ‘To exist as I am’, discusses the prevailing popular narratives in relation to being disabled – as either a person deserving of pity and charity, or an inspirational superhero who excels in the face of adversity. She argues with great maturity of the desire to be allowed to simply be herself, to be allowed to enjoy her existence in the same way as the able bodied. She describes the countless obstacles faced by being in a world designed by the able bodied for the able bodied. Grace powerfully articluates her lived experience of epistemic injustice, being stripped of her autonomy in countless everyday encounters, her rich understanding of embodiment and the value of our interdependence whether disabled or able bodied. Particularly powerful is her description of how being cared for physically has enriched her understanding care and human connection and made her a better caregiver in her role as a doctor.
Left to right: Dr Wing May Kong (IME Chair), Dr Grace Spence Green, Phil Greenwood (IME CEO)
Audio Recording of Lewis Headley Lecture 2026 by Grace Spence Green