13 – 04 – 1998 Dear Spinal Cord Injury Twenty-six years ago you hijacked my beautiful active body and took over my perfect life. Before you, life was good. I was happy and I was loved. I was loved by a handsome husband and my beautiful baby boy. I was loved by my own family and an extended family of in-laws. I was loved by my teaching colleagues and a class full of 8-year-olds. What more could a woman want? But then you came along and ruined it all. I hate you because you took away all of the above and changed everything in an instant. I hate you because you stripped me of my privacy, indepen ..read more

I wrote this in response to a question on a local Facebook page about what it was like to live in NELSPRUIT. The response has been overwhelming so thought I should share it here too. Mbombela (Nelspruit) is nestled in a valley and surrounded by mountains in the scenic Lowveld of the Mpumalanga province, South Africa. We are Da Bomb, de Spruit, Nellies, Naspoti, the Slowveld. For me this is HOME. It is a city of contrasts, a place which can swing you from joy to despair within space of a heartbeat. Close to nature, it’s beautiful and cruel. It will give you joy and bring you sorrow. It steals y ..read more

   We’ve all been through dark days. It’s an inevitable part of living with a disability. And I don’t mean the (often circumstantial) depression that befalls many of us for a period after a sudden, traumatic injury, the one that leaves us reeling in shock, the reality of not being able to do things like we used to. I’m talking about the dark days when everything just becomes too much or when things go wrong like a care assistant not pitching for work or a sudden bladder or bowel issue. It not only messes with your body, but it messes with your head, stripping you of your usual positive attitud ..read more