Rob Moriarty is a businessman and entrepreneur based in Leeds, United Kingdom. A horrific diving accident in 1998 left Rob paralysed from the neck down and wheelchair-bound, leaving him completely dependent on 24 hour care.
Despite his injury and a projected 2 year rehabilitation program, Rob left hospital after 10 months and returned to full time education at Solihull School, completing 3 A-Levels followed by a Joint Honours degree in Music and German from the University of Leeds. In 2004 Rob was one of the first undergraduates requiring 24 hour care to study abroad on the Erasmus program, spending 3 months in Dortmund, Germany.
After finishing his studies Rob setup a website design company in 2007 with a university friend which is still running today, serving over 40 SME clients across a wide range of industries. He has been building websites successfully now for the best part of a decade. Rob joined WSI as an Internet marketing consultant in February 2010 and was immediately able to bring a wealth of knowledge to the network and his clients despite his relatively young age.
Since leaving school Rob has lived independently of friends and family using a combination of Direct Payments, continuing healthcare, and a personal health budget since September 2014 to manage his own care by employing his own personal assistants (PAs).
Rob actively participates in service user involvement at a number of local universities as an associate lecturer, sharing his experiences of working with and receiving support from the health and social care sector. He’s been a member of the NHSE Personalised Care Strategic Co-production Group and Lived Experience team since September 2017.
In 2010 Rob was placed 6th in the Stelios Disabled Entrepreneur of the Year award and Free to Live Leeds was selected as a finalist in the Putting People First category of The Yorkshire and Humberside Great British Care Awards. You can read more about these in the Projects section.
If you’d like to read more about Rob (in which case you must be really bored!) by all means have a look through his mini biography.
