DNA: Congrats on a powerful film. What is your disability exactly?
Daniel Monks: I have paralysis in my right side caused from a spinal cord injury at age 11. I had a spinal cord tumour, and there were complications from the initial biopsy, which caused quadriplegia. After six months of rehabilitation, I recovered movement in my left side, but I was left with the remaining paralysis.
Have you always been comfortable with your body? I really struggled with my disability and my body, especially throughout my teenage years, thinking that I would never be desired because, in my perception at the time and the perception perpetuated through our media, disabled bodies aren’t deemed attractive.