BBC star ‘wanted to d!e’ after devastating accident that left her wheelchair-bound for life at just 15 years old

A BBC star revealed she ‘wanted to d!e’ following a heartbreaking accident that left her wheelchair-bound for life – aged just 15.

Actress and writer Kyla Harris appeared on BBC Breakfast today (February 25) to discuss series two of her show We Might Regret This.

During the discussion, she opened up to presenters Jon Kay and Sally Nugent about her own past experiences.

Kyla revealed: ‘When I had my accident, when I was 15 years old, my mum was with me and this doctor came in.

‘He said to me and my mother, very tragically, with such gloom and doom, “She’ll never walk again”.

‘My immediate response was: “Well then, I want to d!e”. And for a 15-year-old to kind of say that about themselves.

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Appearing on BBC Breakfast, actress and writer Kyla Harris discussed her show We Might Regret This

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Kyla also opened up to presenters Jon Kay and Sally Lindsay about her initial reaction upon learning aged 15 that she would not walk again

‘I never met someone who was a wheelchair user before. What happened is I didn’t, I just kept on living, every single day.’

She continued: ‘And every single day has brought me to here. To me, I kind of questioned why I thought that when I first became disabled.

‘What was it, that made feel that about myself? I guess I just realised that the only thing I knew about disabilities was from the media.

‘That’s why [co-creator and co-writer] Lee and I are doing this. We want to change that narrative.

‘So that a doctor will go into someone’s life in the hospital, who has been newly injured or become newly disabled and say, “Your life might not be what you want it to be, but it’s going to be amazing.”

We Might Regret This follows Freya, a Canadian tetraplegic woman in her thirties, who moves to London to be with partner Abe (Darren Boyd).

The cast also includes Elena Saurel, Sally Philips, Edward Bluemel, Aasiya Shah and Emma Sidi, to name a few.

Though fictional, the series is inspired by some of the experiences shared by the two friends when co-writer Lee Getty was working as Kyla’s personal assistant (PA) some decades ago, a job she accepted not long after they met (which they now describe as a ‘total risk’), but which ultimately yielded a strong bond.

Viewers took to social media when the show debuted, as some have hailed it ‘the BBC’s smartest, sharpest sitcom since Fleabag’.

‘It’s about adult friendships, romance and it’s done with a disabled lens,’ one penned. ‘I’m so freaking happy to see this on screen.’

‘Interesting show!,’ another added. ‘There are some great well developed characters in it and I like how disability is incidental to the story and not the starting end of each plot point.’

A third agreed, writing: ‘You have no idea how long I waited for a story like that… with disability representation and romance.’

In a previous BBC interview promoting the series, Kyla further explained, saying: ‘So much of what we see on screen about disability is made by non-disabled people, they’re often stories of tragedy or inspiration and really shape how people view disability – both for non-disabled people and how disabled people internalise stories about themselves.

‘As disabled people are the most underrepresented group in front of and behind the screen, we really want to contribute to changing how people currently define disability and the disabled experience.’