People will have different abilities after a spinal cord injury depending on where along the spine the injury happened.
The spine and spinal cord can be divided into 3 sections of vertebrae - the cervical, thoracic and lumbar vertebrae.
The higher up the spinal cord the damage occurs, the more function will be lost. This is because as the cord gets nearer to the brain, more body parts are connected to the cord. For example, someone with a spinal cord injury in the top 4 vertebrae (C1-C4) will have little to no movement from the neck down and might need special equipment to help them breathe.
Someone with a spinal cord injury lower down in the thoracic region of the spine will have full use of their upper body, but may be paralysed from the waist down (paraplegia). They will probably need a wheelchair to get around.
Someone with a spinal injury in the lower back (the lumbar area) might have some limited lower body movement and may need a wheelchair or other mobility aid.