Hi Everyone,

Following a very traumatic accident that I was involved in almost 7 years ago in August 2017, I am now fundraising for a wonderful charity called ‘Climbing Out’ by taking on a massive personal challenge to swim a marathon distance of around 16 km (10 miles) across open sea water in the Firth of Forth, from Elie to North Berwick harbour. This will most likely (hopefully) take 6/7 hours to complete. I will be doing this challenge solo with a safety boat alongside me.

I have chosen the Climbing Out charity as it delivers programmes for people who have suffered any form of life changing injury, illness or trauma. The team provides challenging but achievable outdoor activities, personal development coaching and social evenings to help people find a new way forward in life. It is very natural to feel alone and lost when recovering from something that has hugely impacted your life and when you are in a low place it can be difficult to even begin looking for help. I would love to raise awareness for this charity.

My heart will feel full with any amount of donation you are able to give to support this cause. If you would be keen to support in other ways, sharing this page would massively help by creating awareness for not only the charity but anyone else with injuries similar or people who have just had a stoma fitted and want advice and support! I relied on someone else's blood through a transfusion to save my life so anyone who is able to give blood is a hero.

The accident

In August 2017 when visiting family out in Cyprus I was hit by a speedboat when being towed on a float. I was struck by the engine and propellers which caused severe injuries to my body. I endured over 12 hours of life saving surgery over two days.

I needed a blood transfusion after losing 4 pints of blood, I had a fractured sacrum, dislocated coccyx, my big toe was completely broken and had to be held by pins, my second toe was hanging off and later had to be amputated, I had multiple deep lacerations down both of my legs and the most serious internal injury (sparing you some very gruesome detail) resulted in needing an emergency stoma bag put in place on my stomach. I spent nine weeks in a hospital bed in Cyprus eventually managing to sit up and slowly walk again and was then stretchered home on a flight back to the UK mid October.

The boat that hit me drove away without helping me as I was surrounded by my own blood in the ocean trying to cry out for help. My life was saved by many others that day but the anger I held for the driver remained and was tested by being dragged through a six year criminal court case fighting for justice with the immense support of my family through the Cypriot legal system (a story for another time) which concluded in December 2023 where the judge found the driver guilty.

I was due to start my PGDE in PE teaching in Edinburgh which had to be deferred to 2018. Instead, I spent the year back at home with my parents starting the road to a long recovery both physically and mentally.

Physically, my injuries are life changing. I was 24, physically fit and active, looking forward to starting a new career in PE teaching just before the accident. It has taken a long time to build my strength back and manage a coccyx which sits permanently out of place. Waking up from surgery with a stoma was pretty shit to be honest (pun absolutely intended.) I didn’t fully understand what it was at first. I live with a stoma to this day which has been a journey of acceptance. Nerve tweaks, pains and scar tissue tightness are things that I manage day to day and will do for the rest of my life. I completely lost my passion for sport because I literally felt like I was 98 years old and would never be able to run or swim etc again. I felt vulnerable, like I would break if I tried to do anything active.

Mentally, nothing could have prepared me for facing the trauma of the actual accident itself or the long period in hospital with language barriers, lots of uncertainty and then having to rebuild myself to get back to something familiar. I lost my true happiness for longer than I realised. I tried to smile and laugh through the underlying pain and anger of the whole situation but this created a cloud over me as life went on. I have felt stuck under this for 6 years and then in December I was given some form of justice. The acknowledgment from the judge was everything for me. It restored my faith in life and a certain degree of humanity which the driver of the boat tore apart (quite literally).

I have chosen this swim challenge for a few reasons. Firstly, I love swimming. It’s the first sport I ever did and I know how important it is to not let this experience ruin my passion for it. Secondly, it’s a challenge that, without serious training, I know I would fail at. Attempting it in the open sea water will set me against a number of uncertain elements i.e. the tide, the temperature, the potential jellyfish and the hefty distance. The most I have ever swum was in a Loch at a distance of 5km. The mental challenge is combating the trauma I faced in the water which is very vivid in my mind to this day. During the swim I’ll be alone, looking down to darkness, seeing various shadows, in very deep water - it’s just generally quite a terrifying thought for me.

So many people have helped get me to this point and I have overwhelming gratitude for each individual - doctors, nurses, hospital staff, physios, family, friends, friends of friends, lawyers and even strangers who heard about it.

Lastly, it’s a long shot but sharing my just giving page may help with finding the female doctor who was on holiday and rushed over from the beach to save my life on the day. She bound me in bandages which stopped the bleeding in enough time for the ambulance to get me to hospital. She told me I was not going to die that day and this will be a vivid memory forever. This woman did everything she could to keep me alive and I never got to see her again. To the doctor, if you ever come across this page, I would love to thank you in person.

If you are interested in following my training for the swim I will be sharing it on my instagram account Swimming With Scars

Thank you so much for your time reading this! Now it's time to seriously, seriously train. 🩵