Living with Disabilities

                This is a subject that I really wanted to highlight. I honestly didn’t know where to begin. I think this is the hardest blog I have had to write. I wanted to talk about my experience, which is nothing compared to the things many people have to live with.

                When I was about twelve years old I had an accident. I fell about fifteen feet from a rope swing and landed vertically on my head. I suffered cuts, bruises, broken arm and two fused vertebra in my back. I had to have a lot of treatment to strengthen my back, as I was always in pain. Little by little I got stronger and really got into keep fit. I turned to martial arts and have done that ever since.

                I use to be super fit, but remained constantly in pain. Just playing with my dogs, I would pull up in agony for no reason what so ever. I was diagnosed with Tendonitis, which basically means I have weak tendons. This just made me train harder and try to develop my body, so I could continue to do the martial arts that I love. This went on for years. I was in constant pain.

                Then one day I ripped my “Cruciate Knee Ligament” for those that don’t know, this is a career ending injury for most athletes, as it can take about six months to a year to heal. I was really disappointed with the injury, and for about two months I couldn’t walk. And then for two months I could drag my leg and limp around, but then my knee tore again and all in all it took ten months for me to get over my knee injury.

                The problem was that when the knee started to heal, my legs began to go numb. It was nothing more than pins and needles at first, but then I would go to stand and my legs wouldn’t move. On two occasions I knocked myself out, as I would be walking and then just suddenly drop, as my legs went numb. This is not to be confused with tripping, literally just dropping and smashing my head. It then progressed to shooting pains down my legs, my thighs feeling like someone was burning them and falling over when shopping, walking my dogs, making dinner.

                I had MRI’s on my knee and back to find out that my injury from when I was 12 was my problem. I have severe nerve damage in my spine. Oddly, being super fit was the cure, as it meant I had a really strong body and in the 10 months I sat around unable to do anything, I lost that body and the injury raised its ugly head. It also meant I didn’t have Tendonitis and about five other things I was diagnosed with turned out to all stem from the nerve problem.

                It has taken me a year and a half to get my life back. I am training again, getting stronger, the numbness is gone, and the pain is there now and again. I will require spinal surgery at some point, which has all sort of horrible complications, but for the moment if I work hard and train hard I can get my life back until my back decides to give up on me.

                This chapter of my life has given a whole new appreciation and respect for people living with disabilities. I don’t think many people can fully understand some of the limitations set upon people with disabilities or the determination to not allow these disabilities to ruin your life. I gave up and got depressive when they said it was my spine and then I got angry and determined to beat this, and it made me see things in a different way. Like, I couldn’t hold my baby nephew; my legs could go numb at any point. I couldn’t take the kids out on my own, as I could collapse.

                Some people asked why I made the little girl hero, of my book, blind and it’s because I wanted to highlight life with disabilities. I wanted to show how important the little things people take for granted are to someone with disabilities and that having disabilities isn’t the end of the world. That you can still achieve your dreams, your goals, and your desires and live the life you want to live.

                Thank you for reading.

How Cunning is your Cat?

I want to share a brief story about how cunning and clever cats can truly be. Earlier this year I lost my cat, Tammy. She died at the grand age of twenty-one. Tammy was a lovely cat that was found on a building site as a kitten. She had anxiety problems and hated to be alone. My old dog, Katie, was her best friend and then years later she really took to my little dog, Willow.

Tammy was an amazing hunter. The amount of birds I have had to treat and heal over the years is incredible. She never really killed anything, which was the one plus, but I guess the injured birds wouldn’t see that as much of a positive. She wasn’t the biggest cat, but she ran the street. She was tough, cats knew it and dogs knew it. You never saw a dog chase, Tammy. You saw Tammy chasing dogs.



So, you can understand the day I saw this twenty-one year old cat slink away, truly frightened, from a very large cat that was in our back garden broke my heart. I was really upset, as to see such a proud and strong animal back away out of fear must have been so hard for her. This cat was so confident it even had a go at both of my dogs.

I took the dogs inside and went to get this cat out of my back garden. There are four fences, so the only way out is through the gate. I went to approach the cat and it hissed wildly. So, I slowly just coaxed it towards the wooden gates, where it could slip out underneath. The cat, seeing the exit, was more than happy to escape.

It dived beneath the gate and then suddenly pulled back and hissed at me. I was not being scary or horrid. “Off you go, Mr Cat.” Hissss! This went on for a few minutes, the cat could hear my dogs barking, it wanted to get out the garden, but the only way out was under the gate, it kept putting its head under and hissing. If I approached to open the gate it hissed at me. I decided to go back into the house, out the front door, and open the gate from the other side, but what did I find?

I never laughed so hard at this point.

Tammy was sitting very peacefully in front of the gate, one paw raised into the air, all of her claws extended. She purred at me, as I approached. Suddenly, the cats head appeared beneath the gate and Tammy’s paw came down. It hit the cat directly on the top of the head. It hissed! I didn’t blame it. I think I would have hissed too.

I had a new found respect for Tammy that day. She had met a younger, faster, fitter and more deadly foe than her. She knew her days as top cat were over, so she made a tactical withdraw and used her brain to trap the cat that had frightened her so badly. That cat never once appeared in our garden again. It just shows how cunning and clever cats can truly be. I have to thank Tammy because many of her stories and the clever things she did inspired so many scenes in, The Legend of the Hermit Master, and it shows that if you use your brain you can overcome anything in life.

Do you have any funny, unique or silly stories of your cat? Feel free to share them.