HOPE
Last week I went to the
opening of the Paralympics in London. I
felt very privileged to be at this once in a life time event and I was awed by the
bravery and the enterprise of the people of so many nations who, despite often
devastating disability, had managed to rise to such an exalted level of
sporting achievement.
That made me think about
people who cope with illness and disability in whatever way they can to make
the most of their lives.
She did this after she
herself had a brain tumour removed while she was in her early twenties. For an active and attractive girl with the
world at her feet this was a devastating blow.
And once the drama of the surgery was over and people who had been
holding their breath for her had exhaled, she was left to cope with seizures,
blinding headaches, crippling tiredness, mood swings and impaired vision that dogged
her daily life.
When she should have been
riding high with a promising career ahead of her she was, instead, afraid to go
out in case she had a seizure. She tried
to work but just could not keep up with the pace. She longed to drive again but after months of
waiting her hopes were finally dashed, for good. Frustration almost overwhelmed
her. But this was a girl who was going to fight back! She looked around for support and found loads
of facts and figures and articles about brain tumours. The information and support she wanted, was
hard to come by. She envisioned a place
where fellow suffers could meet for a moan or a laugh and a joke, where the
emphasis was more on recovery than on dealing with the mechanics, diagnosis and
treatment of brain tumours. So she
decided to make a site herself. And so
aunty M (that stands for meningioma) was born.
She is about to publish her autobiography and you can see details of
that and a lot of other useful and inspiring information on the aunty M site.
As the huge sporting fest
that we have enjoyed this summer through first the Olympic games and now the
Paralympics, I think that the impact on all of us will be long lasting. For those parents with disabled children, the
Paralympics presents a new and perhaps unexpected avenue for their child to
explore. For those of us unfortunate
enough to be disabled through accident or illness, there is the inspiration
from those athletes many from countries much less developed than ours, who have
managed to excel despite their disabilities.
And to all of us, able bodied and disabled, there is that very important
word on which the world turns – hope.
You can see the website
address for aunty M on the blog on UK radio.
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Health Radio.
Amanda Thomas
