Philippa Herbert is one of those people with enough determination to win wars and enough energy to light a small town. Which is just as well, because in the last six years she has had to deal with some of the cruellest challenges imaginable.

A former City investment manager, a magistrate, wife and mother, who has juggled all the demands of modern life, in 1994 she decided to add horse trials and eventing to her skills. Eighteen months later she fell from her horse and collided with a tree, knocking her vertebrae out of alignment and damaging the spinal cord.

Emergency treatment and then a five-hour operation concluded with the insertion of a stabilising metal frame in her back. This was followed by a six-month stay in the Southwest’s spinal injury unit at Salisbury Hospital. The prognosis was not good - chronic paralysis.

Philippa grappled with the implications of her new condition on a daily basis through the long months of rehabilitation. As she puts it, "There is a strong wheelchair culture in hospitals, and people with spinal injuries are encouraged to be passive. Patients are repeatedly reminded of things they will never be able to do again – activities that the rest of us take for granted; actions and capabilities that help us to define ourselves."

So she left Salisbury convinced that there had to be more, yet unsure where to find it.

Ironically, a year before she took up her sport, a clinic opened in a disused building at Standish Hospital in Gloucestershire that was to become a central plank in her life. The National Rehabilitation Centre for the Paralysed (NRCP) has one aim - to rebuild lives shattered by paralysis.

The origins of NRCP lie in Moscow and the pioneering work of Valentin Dikoul. He had been a trapeze artist with the Moscow State Circus, but became paralysed following a fall during his act. Over seven mentally and physically painful years he struggled to devise his own rehabilitation programme. He developed a comprehensive course of non-invasive exercise therapy - no drugs, no surgery - that enabled him to rebuild his strength and maximise the potential of his paralysed body.

He then persuaded the Soviet authorities that he could do the same for other people and eventually opened his now world famous clinic. Some 12 years later, NRCP founder, David Heard visited the Dikoul Institute. As Heard says, "I had visited every spinal injury unit in the UK and had never seen anything to compare with Dikoul's clinic. There was no high-tech equipment or hugely scientific approach, but the work-rate, the commitment and the results were staggering."

So much so that in the following year Heard helped to arrange for forty-five spinal cord injured people from the UK to attend the Dikoul Institute.

Realising that this was only a short-term solution he then decided to bring the treatment to the UK. So in 1993, with the help of three Russian therapists, using the same techniques, approach and attitudes that had made the Moscow clinic such a success, Heard opened the NRCP.

Since those early days the therapies and treatment programmes have been developed and refined – from hands-on experience, case studies and self-funded research. There are unique techniques employing specially designed equipment for treadmill walking and cardio-vascular exercise, specialist hand and foot clinics, electro-therapy and other treatments. But the underlying principles remain - to optimise the functional ability of the paralysed person.

One of the earliest clients of NRCP came from the Salisbury Spinal Unit and so word got back to Philippa. She recalls, "When I heard about the NRCP approach and the theory of intensive therapy I felt it had the potential to help me."

She came to the Centre, met Heard, saw the work in progress and decided that it was for her. She came initially for a 13-week Foundation Course and after was able to report: "Significant progress has been made. This includes an improved sense of feeling in both legs and feet, the ability to stand and general health improvements."

This latter aspect is not insignificant, as Philippa explains, "Exercise helps to reduce the frequency of minor ailments that can plague the lives of the wheelchair-bound."

That was four years ago and Philippa followed this with regular visits to the Centre to improve her technique and develop new strengths and skills. Through the use of treadmill therapy Philippa has regained the step function. This, in conjunction with the increase in her strength and muscle tone, has enabled her to walk short distances on crutches – a sensation she feels is underrated, emphasising that "The sense of being upright is so important to me."

But there are other aspects of the Centre's approach that she values. "NRCP has allowed me to keep my humanity. Disability can easily force one to lose regard for oneself, one’s past, one’s future, gender, and expectations – people refer to you as ‘the wheelchair’. At NRCP they acknowledge that you are an individual, which has a tremendous effect on your morale - devoted attention is paid to your legs, whereas in hospital you are conditioned never to think of them again."

It is this individual and holistic approach that is at the core of the Centre beliefs. David Heard explains, "We seek to optimise the capacity of every client. Goals are set collaboratively between client and therapist, ensuring that rehabilitation is directed towards helping the client to master skills that he or she values, and is likely to use in everyday life."

"Our programmes are hard work and there are no guaranteed outcomes. But all of our clients make progress. The scale of satisfaction with that progress is a very personal judgement, and ultimately is down to the individual client. It is the relevance of that progress to the client’s own life that is most important."

Philippa concurs and is now a strong advocate of NRCP’s methods. "Even the most severely disabled person will undoubtedly benefit from the work done there. It is by no means a miracle cure, but NRCP is most definitely a really amazing place."

Part of those methods is to design a home training programme for all clients. It is a testimony to Philippa's drive and tenacity that, with the support and skill of her personal trainer, Dave Smith, she has carried this out relentlessly. Heard is convinced that "the key to her continuing improvement is this consistency and continuity of effort."

Most importantly, Philippa is now back to doing some of the things she loves – including riding – swapping her wheelchair for horseback, and feeling free, temporarily released from her immobility. "I am now doing things I never dreamt possible. And when I am back on my horse I forget completely that I am a paraplegic."

WAACIS is a London-wide charity (Registered Charity No. 1070571), which provides low-cost Internet tuition for physically disabled and sensory impaired people in their own home.