A Renowned Bristol chef who lost his arm in a car accident hascalled on employers to keep an open mind about disabled workers.
Michael Caines is the youngest chef in the country with twoMichelin stars, and runs a series of restaurants, including one atthe city's Marriott Royal.
Now he has lent his support to a campaign by the Disability RightsCommission (DRC), which aims to dispel myths about disabled people.
Mr Caines lost his arm in a car crash in 1994, just as his careerwas beginning to blossom. He had recently become head chef atGidleigh Park in Devon when the accident happened.
Mr Caines said: "No amount of preparation could have helped me tocope with the impact of the horrific car accident in 1994 in which Ilost my right arm.
"Just two months into my new role as head chef, the loss of my armwas not just physically painful, but mentally and emotionally it wastorturous."
Mr Caines said the time he spent recovering left him questioningwhether his career could survive.
He said: "The seeds of doubt seemed rational enough: a chefwithout a right arm - an onion chopping arm, an egg-beating arm, ahot-plate presentation arm.
"How could I contribute to a busy kitchen, never mind lead a team?Wouldn't my disability just get in the way? "Faced with the prospectof failure, I could choose either to give up work and sacrifice allthat I had achieved, or I could do what any self-respecting oraspiring chef should do by instinct: prepare and persevere."
Mr Caines stuck with it, and thanks to a prosthetic armreplacement - which he calls "robo-chef", he was able to continuedoing the job he loves.
"With the profound belief and encouragement of my employers, theowners of Gidleigh Park, I managed to get back in the kitchen withintwo weeks, went on to win my second Michelin star in 1999, and nowown and manage several award-winning restaurants across the UK.
"But I am lucky. Many disabled people lose their jobs due to fearand a lack of understanding about what's involved in keeping a jobopportunity open.
"Looking back, the initial doubt and anxiety I felt during myrecovery - formed largely from my own misconceptions about what itmeant to be disabled - now seems ridiculous. Why can't disabledpeople who want to work, and are capable of work, do just that?" MrCaines says he is proud to be supporting the DRC campaign to preventmisconceptions about disabled people at work.
He said: "It's a common myth that disability is all about peoplein wheelchairs and physical adjustments to buildings, such as ramps.
"This is simply not true - the numbers of disabled people inwheelchairs is proportionately small. Disability covers a wide rangeof conditions such as cancer, arthritis, asthma, diabetes anddepression.
"You might be surprised to know that there are 558,000 disabledpeople in the South West alone and some 56 per cent of them are inwork. Another myth is that it costs more to employ disabled people.
"That's simply nonsense. Two-thirds of companies employingdisabled people say they incurred no extra costs and, of the thirdthat do, said they were minimal."
Mr Caines says reasonable adjustments to help employees do theirjobs do not cost that much, especially compared to the costs ofrecruiting a replacement.
He said: "I hope the DRC campaign and my own story could helpsomeone, an employer or a person with some form of impairment, torealise that, provided the basic skills and enthusiasm exists, thereis little reason why keeping a job and, better still, thriving in ajob, isn't something more disabled people and small employers can'tcelebrate together.
"I've proved that personally as an employee, but also now as anemployer of disabled people."
l To find out more, log on to the website www.drc-gb.org/employment
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