I broke both my hands falling down the Soho stairs, and spent the next month saying FML

Last term crisis struck for second year student Hugh Haider. After downing a few trebs in Soho, Hugh fell down a whole flight of stairs, landing with his arms out and breaking both his hands. Ouch.

Hugh blames the incident on his friend, who pushed him down the stairs, but he didn't realise anything was particularly wrong until someone tried to shake his hand.

Ending the night with a trip to A&E, he was told his hands were only swollen and to return on the Monday morning. After a weekend of regretting all his mistakes, Hugh was told that he had in fact torn ligaments in both his hands and needed casts. ON BOTH ARMS.

Not a vibe

When asked how Hugh managed the next few weeks without the use of either arm, Hugh described it as "hell". He told The Tab Newcastle: "If I was to describe the first week, it would be 'hell'.

"My essays were due and I wasn't even able to type a word without feeling pain. Another punch in the gut was when I was informed by the PEC committee that I had to choose whether to submit the essay late or not submit at all and instead just have an exam.

"Really some bad news to hear since I knew it would affect my grades negatively."

But how did Hugh survive with no working hands? For the next month Hugh had to tape bin bags to his arms to have showers, couldn't take notes in lectures and generally had a miserable time. Hugh added: "Initially, I was optimistic and thought of it as a survival experience. Though, as days went, I was not able to do anything and took a couple of Paracetamols and Ibuprofen for the pain.

"It took me six days and a trash bag taped to my hands to have my first shower and dressing for lectures took me almost an hour and a half. I had to rely on my friends to provide me their notes. I would just attend my lectures and seminars and just listen, nothing else."

Gradually Hugh got some movement back

Naturally Hugh was unable to do any house work or cooking, so ended up spending a small fortune on eating out as he was unable to prepare any food. He said: "Another thing that made this annoying was not being able to cook anything. You can imagine that as students with our low budget, we cannot eat out every day. I felt my bank account crying."

Hugh told us things only started to become more bearable when he was "able to go to a couple of house parties."

When Hugh's casts were finally removed and replaced with straps, he was given extensive physiotherapy. Hugh said: "I am grateful for the support I received from my family and friends as without them, I did not think I would have had survived the month."

So next time you think you're struggling with your looming deadlines, just spare a thought for Hugh.