As well as leaving him severely disabled, the accident cut short a high flying career in advertising. In one moment he became a member of a club he never imagined he would join: that of “the disabled”.

Life changed and Max changed with it. Undeterred by the trauma of the accident and its setbacks, he set about rebuilding life, while searching for a renewed sense of purpose, from a wheelchair.

Max discovered that life for a disabled person isn’t always a walk in the park. Misconceptions and prejudice still prevail; accessibility has improved a lot, but it’s still not a given, nor often is policy applied sensibly. And the bureaucracy of a disabled life can be crippling.

So Max decided to change things and now dedicates his life to creating a world where people with disabilities can participate and contribute fully, thereby defining themselves by what they can do, rather than what they can’t.

Simply, it is a matter of being seen as human like anyone else: Max, as if to emphasise the point, is also grumpy in the morning.