The one solution is to end the back story bad 'so anyway, he's learning how to walk again after... That.' or 'crawled into a bottle afterwards, and you'll have a hell of a time fishing her out. In the meantime, she can still manage a cantrip from time to time. Most days.' Especially if you're going for a 'last job' or 'old gunslinger' vibe.

Works really well if your early build is super specialized, and, like 'they still remember how to do that part just on reflex'