Corinne’s story – winner of Self Management Champion award 2024
“I quickly learned that I prefer to think about other people than wallow. I didn’t realise it at the time, but it was a form of therapy.”
It is widely thought that sepsis is an illness but it’s not, it is a reaction to an infection. For me, it was a chest infection. I thought I just had a bad cough that I could cure with cough bottles and lozenges. It should have been that simple, but my body was overreacting and that caused it to shut down. I ended up fighting for my life and lost my hands and my legs. It all happened so suddenly and we didn’t know much about it, so it was a steep learning curve. Thankfully there is a lot more awareness about it now but eleven years ago, when it happened to me, I realised that there was nothing for people like me and I had to find answers for myself. I felt utterly useless and worthless and I didn’t know what would become of me.
With the support of my family, we decided to try and fill the gaps in information, services and support. So, in that in between stage when I couldn’t go back to the job I was doing but I needed a purpose, I set up Finding Your Feet. The idea was that nobody would have to find out for themselves, the much needed help and support would be available to them. I quickly learned that I prefer to think about other people than wallow. I didn’t realise it at the time, but it was a form of therapy.
There are many reasons why someone has a limb amputated and we work with a range of people, from children and young people who have suffered from meningitis or cancer, people who have battled addiction, to people with vascular problems and diabetes which can cause poor circulation. Amputation is hard to come to terms with at any age, whether it’s kids feeling left out at school or not being able to do things their friends can, having to explain to new employers or partners, or having to come to terms with the changes in later life. The biggest challenge people face is with mental health and keeping their will to live as they can very easily lose that and can begin to think that there is nothing left for them. Our aim is to change this mindset, we focus on getting people out of isolation, encourage them to mix with people and try to get them laughing again. We now have about 70 clubs a month across Scotland, which is fantastic but we grew a lot quicker than I expected to and I felt quite out of my depth at times, but we have a great team now and I am hoping to take a bit of a step back and let other people do what they are good at.
Our clubs are so important for people living with amputation. No one knows how it feels or what you are going through and your family are doing their best, trying to understand, but until you’ve been there, then it’s very hard to put yourself in that position.
Read more Humans of Scotland stories here.
End of page.