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Whilst the fish and chips I ate weren’t particularly inspiring, the conversation over yesterday’s lunch certainly was:
I was lucky enough to meet up with an old friend - a vet whom I hadn’t seen in about 12 years due to our paths going off on slightly different directions following the births of our children: We each have two daughters, born around the same time, as in many respects our lives have otherwise run in parallel. Now our paths seem to be converging once again so we had an awful lot of girlie chat to catch up on!
And it turned out we’ve both had our fair share of challenges, especially over the past 4 years; though for me the grinding tedium and emotional low’s of caring for and managing the demise of our parents seemed somewhat insignificant compared to the catastrophic events Louise has gone through and survived.
Only 15% of strokes are hemorrhagic, but they account for 40% of all stroke deaths, so clearly my otherwise fit and healthy friend beat the odds when she collapsed in front of her two young daughters with a major brain aneurism and lived to tell the tale.
From that moment her life changed forever. Three weeks disappeared completely and at the point her brain recovered sufficiently to store and retrieve memories once again, she recalls finding herself in a hospital ward in one of the countries leading neurological facilities, remembering all too well the poor prognosis, the doom sayers prophecies that she would never ride again and that sort of thing.
So at precisely that point she made a choice and started setting goals.
Clearly it was important to get back on a horse quickly, before her family had the opportunity to sell her horses…and believe it or not, this particular milestone was achieved in just 3 months. Yes, you did read that right…about 12 weeks from near-death to trotting out the yard!
Louise then took up cycling, and to her GP husband’s horror, set herself the challenge of being the fastest cyclist down a hill in their locality. Despite hubby’s reservations, of course she did it and the speed reached was around 32 mph!! And so the goal setting went on, another being to cycle across the country and back again, with sponsorship monies raised and split between The Stroke Association and the Animal Welfare Foundation. Piece of cake, that was(!).
Wow! Flippin’ wow!
As Jeremy and I prepare to transfer his mother into a nursing home on Monday - we are all too aware that she embarking on the final leg of her life’s journey - I thank my dear friend for the hope, strength and inspiration she has given me and, no doubt, very many others.
Our lunch conversation has been a timely reminder of the immense power of the mind when it comes to healing, achieving and over-turning the odds; odds which are calculated on less resourceful mindsets than hers (and mine for that matter!).
Louise has inspired me with her story, especially when she said her life has changed for the better: She now lives life to the full, appreciating and making the most of every single day, embracing new challenges, being adventurous and thinking laterally; a bonus is that much of the emotional baggage we all carry from childhood, she has left behind in her pre-stroke life.
For her, a catastrophic illness that has rendered her somewhat forgetful has also been a turning point which has changed life for the better. Because that’s the choice she made. Simple as that.
So, if life is giving you a bit of a rough ride at the moment (**it happens), please take a few moments for yourself, look around you, breathe deeply and reflect. Take time to listen to other people's stories of how they’ve overcome strife and absorb the messages meant for you that will provide you with the resolve and strength you need to deal with your own set of challenges.
After all, what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger…..
(The picture shown above is Louise Collins MRCVS following surgery; apologies if you're eating while reading this! Thank you to Louise for inspiring me to write this blog and giving me permission to publish her story and photograph).