Like many of you in the past weeks I have been gripped by the crazy US election. As an avid West Wing fan (if you haven’t seen it you must – it’s an education in US politics) it felt like watching an extended episode, as the race for president was so bonkers. I have lived and worked in the States and I have always met articulate and smart Americans and yet I see people saying that Barack Obama has let them down so they will vote Mitt Romney. How can someone go from left to right so easily?

You might be thinking what does this have to do with disability? Well I had my accident in the US. With 18 rib fractures, two punctured lungs and a spinal injury, I was in intensive care there for three weeks before a 10 month stint in the UK.

Obama has campaigned and made major changes in the US healthcare system. Obamacare is oft ridiculed and seen as just a minor victory for healthcare reform.

After three weeks of intensive care in the US my healthcare bill was £750,000 – that’s not a typo.

If I wasn’t insured my family would have had to sell their house and I would not have been given that level or duration of care as no one would have been paying for it.

In the UK, I pay £104 for unlimited prescriptions and none of us pay for doctor’s appointments or trips to A and E. This includes all my drugs and sanitary care items. Without help from the NHS having a disability would be insanely expensive.

As I understand it, in the US I would have a pre-existing condition and therefore my claim would be capped.

It’s a real annoyance to me. I’d love to live in the US, the so-called land of opportunity – that is unless you have a pre-existing health condition. My insurance would be around £19,000 a year and wouldn’t cover everything.

This means I simply cannot afford to live in the US due to my health condition.

I think Obama has a big job to do and maybe within my lifetime I might be able to work in the US but let’s be grateful for our political system.

Cameron and Co squabble like the best of them, but the NHS is something that so often gets criticised.

Well if you have a chronic health condition and you have dabbled with the US health system you suddenly appreciate what an amazing institution the NHS is.

The most frightening thing is the billions spent on this US election – just imagine if that had gone into developing a more inclusive healthcare system or helping the millions of uninsured?

Food for thought and time to appreciate what we have.