When I finished my A- Levels the vision I had for summer was full of relaxing days catching up on all the books I had wanted to read, as well as planning days out with friends and just generally having a good time! However, if you know me well enough you will know that nothing is simple, uneventful or ordinary- too many days in hospital later I am finally back home. I have epilepsy which is very uncontrolled, despite seizures being drastically reduced from what they used to be, they still can often just be part of everyday life for me. For the vast majority of instances, they last a…

I have mild Cerebral Palsy but it wasn’t until the age of 15 that I used a wheelchair part- time. Before this point I had seen it as giving up- and probably should have used one quite a few years before I did to prevent higher pain levels and fatigue. As I approached my teenage years my health/ mobility began to deteriorate and I was experiencing pain which was just getting worse and worse. Previously my Cerebral Palsy was not too noticeable and I no longer had to wear AFO splints. As a teenager you normally gain more freedom, become independent and find yourself. Yet I found myself having to rely on…

I cannot begin to imagine what it is like to hear the words “your child has cerebral palsy” because I have always been the one to have CP, and I guess it is all I have ever known, but does that have to be a bad thing? Initially, it is probably expected that you will have thousands upon thousands of questions about expected progress, attainment, abilities/ disabilities, meeting milestones and so much more. Now if you have been in this situation I expect you know that these questions cannot be answered in any great detail- with the vast majority left to the ‘waiting game’ and approximations made. Like any ordinary parent,…

Hello! For those of you who do not know, I have recently been nominated for a National Diversity Award for ‘Positive role model’ in the disability category which I am absolutely amazed about! I just had an email pop up…. and at first I didn’t believe it (but it is real!) Being a quite a small blog means that the chances of me actually winning are highly unlikely!!! but that does not actually matter, the responses which I have received so far have been so heart warming and on occasions made me cry. To know what impact you can have on people’s lives is really powerful- the amount of people…

The 5k Sponsored Wobble! Hello!…. Apologies for the lack of writing which has been happening… I try to post at least once a month and it always seems to be something which is left until last minute…. having A- Levels takes up a lot of time and energy! March (I know it’s the beginning of April) is often a very busy month on my blog page with it being Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day and all sorts of other things where there is an extra big push on awareness. I did have time to write a little bit on my facebook page during this day: Just a few of the things…

This was the question I got asked by a year 8 student while doing the final dress rehearsal for the school production this morning, and for once it actually got me to stop and think. Why am I running around after actors for hours on end being the stage manager and directing them? It is a pretty simple response, but I was temporarily at a loss for words. The short answer is that no matter what I do in life, it is going to hurt, and I love doing the school production so much! Walking, getting dressed, brushing my teeth, and eating lunch… everything is going to hurt. The real question…

Wow, January has almost come to an end already, and it certainly has been a busy start to the year! I have just finished my year 13 mock exams, had various hospital appointments and was in the local newspaper for my blog and being a head ambassador for CP Teens UK… However, today I am going to talk about something a little closer to home- family! You learn from the ones who you spend the most time with. The ones who help you through hard times, but also the ones who you can have good times with as well. Your family has a massive part to play in that. Don’t…

Hello!! So 2015 is nearly over, something I really cannot believe! However, it is safe to say that this year has been one of the most action pack, crazy, amazing years of my life… I have managed to cram in so much and actually achieve a lot whether that be personal or academic. Instead of writing a huge list of all the things I have done this year I am going to try and summarise it into 8 manageable lessons which I feel I have learnt during the last 12 months… NUMBER 1: Always be open to new adventure’s This can probably be applied to many circumstances over the past…