As a boy Michael Coatesworth hated learning and spent most of his time playing truant from school.

But after an accident which left him partially paralysed and wheelchair bound for the rest of his life, Bradford born Michael suddenly found he had a passion for writing. Michael's own story is one of courage and determination to succeed against all the odds.

Alexandra Phillips reports.

MICHAEL COATESWORTH was knocked down by a car when he was working as a security guard in Ireland in 1985 and suffered serious head injuries.

Afterwards he and his Irish bride Betty, who he had met and married before the accident, decided to move back to Bradford to be closer to his family for support.

He spent most of his time in day centres and was taken on day trips and given swimming lessons. Carers were constantly trying to stimulate his brain in an attempt to make him learn how to live again.

This picture is a far cry from the computer wizard and bookworm of today who has devised his own website .

Fourteen years on he has written more than 300 short stories and is working on his fourth novel.

"I just love writing," he said. "It's my passion in life."

Despite not having had his work published in book form Michael, 51, is on his fourth novel. And the fact that he can only type at 15 words per minute because of his paralysis makes it even more remarkable.

He was introduced to computers during his recovery time at Clifford Brook Day Centre in Leeds.

"They asked me if I wanted to have a go and something just clicked. I loved it and they couldn't get me off it."

He decided that he wanted to start a basic computing course at the Thomas Danby College in Leeds - a college for students with learning disabilities - and took an entrance exam.

"I couldn't believe it. I thought I'd never pass. It just all went from there. The doctors said that during the accident a part of my brain that makes me want to learn had been triggered and it became an obsession. I couldn't stop myself."

He spent most of his time on the computers and even learnt how to make his own web page back in 1994.

An English tutor at the college asked him if he wanted to enter a writing competition to win a computer.

"I remember I said I'd enter anything. That was four years ago now and I won. I remember the tutor saying I had a really active imagination. And my writing just went from there."

When he finally left the college he graduated with no less than 17 diplomas in word processing, database methods and desk top publishing. He even got a City and Guilds in maths and a Mensa certificate of merit.

Thrown on to the streets by his father when he was just 13-years-old and on the verge of suicide four years later, Michael draws on his dramatic experiences in life to help him write. At 17 his older brother Alan told him to take stock of his life and join the army. He took Alan's advice and joined the Duke of Wellington's Regiment.

"I remember going for the interview and virtually starting straight away. It was like I had a new family and it was my new home. I remember they used to call me 'Lofty' because I was so tall. I liked it. They were brilliant years."

Michael, who lives in Guiseley with Betty and their youngest daughter Lesley, 19, had never really felt part of a family despite being one of five children. His mother left when he was two and his father did not want him around when he moved in with his new girlfriend.

"That's the reason he threw me out, because I was in the way and I was the last one living at home. I lived rough for four years, just travelling up and down the country. I came back when I became disillusioned and Alan sorted me out."

Alan along with Aunt Chrissie, his father's sister who offered love and support when he was thrown out, were the only two members of the family who Michael felt close to.

Tragically, while he was serving in the army he was told the devastating news that Alan had been murdered. He had been stabbed to death.

"I was shocked, devastated. It took me a while to get over that."

One thing that Michael had promised Alan was that if anything happened to him he would continue with the search for their mother - who they had not seen since the day she left.

Michael finally left the army after 13 years, where he served in 22 different countries, and went from job to job to put food on the table for himself and Betty.

Then, one night as he was working as a security guard, tragedy struck and Michael was knocked down by a car and paralysed for life.

"I don't really remember much about that time. I had such bad head injuries I had to learn everything again. I moved back to Bradford because I thought my family would be sympathetic despite all of our troubles before."

Another emotional setback was when Aunt Chrissie passed away. She had been like a mother to Michael and he called her 'mum'.

"She was one of the most kind and loving people you could ever meet. She put herself out for others, especially me. She was like a mum to me."

Michael had been unable to continue looking for his biological mother during his illness. But as he got better and learnt more about the wonders of technology, he began searching for her on the internet. He sent letters right across the world and finally, an advert placed in a magazine in America brought him to her. But she was reluctant to introduce herself as his mother.

"She denied it at first. I think so much had happened that she wanted to forget about everything. But finally she admitted she was our mother."

She now lives in England but things are not as rosy as Michael had hoped. His most recent work Welcome Home is based on his struggles over the years to find her. His mother knows he wants to write the book but she is not prepared to talk about what happened and has told him it is nobody's business but her own.

Michael is hoping that once she reads what he has written she will want to give her side to the story but the issue has caused tension.

His ability to write novels has brought him tremendous happiness and a goal in life but because he writes about things that have effected him during his life, which includes his family, they are upset and a drift has formed with them once again.

"One thing that changed when I had my accident was that I speak my mind now and say what I think and that upsets other people but I can't help it. If something is bothering me then I have to say so. And it often comes out in the novels that I write."

But his immediate family, his wife Betty and children Tina, 25, Stephen, 23 and Lesley, have all stuck by him.

"They're brilliant. We go out and have a good laugh. I don't put any restrictions on them. As long as they are happy that's all that matters. And they are happy if I am."

Michael is still desperately looking for a publisher even though From The Dark Came Light, a romantic story focusing on the struggles his Aunt Chrissie faced during her life, has been published in disc form.

"I'm a romantic at heart and wanted people to know about the person that brought me up and the hardships she went through. It got a lot of things off my chest and I feel better for letting people know the truth.

But not all of my stories focus on the struggles we faced as youngsters. I have a lot of happy memories as well. There were times when we had a good laugh together."

Michael has also written columns for the North Star Journal in New Mexico and Ontario Folk Music Magazine. He has been awarded The Quill, Spotlight Writer of the Month and was presented with an award of excellence by Short Story Magazine.

But he is still desperately searching for his main goal.

"I will be most content when I'm finally published in book form. It will be like winning the World Cup and I can say to my Aunt Chrissie, 'look I've done it'."

_

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.