Pick Me Up! 13-Jan-2022

Twirling around at a friend’s wedding in 2015, I was having a great time. I got talking to a guy that caught my eye. ‘I’m a doctor with a focus in tropical medicine,’ Tom gleamed at me. With a background in marketing, I had worked for a lot of charities so knew about global health. We seemed like the perfect pair, with a real passion for making a difference in the developing world. Our friendship soon flourished into a relationship. And in 2017, on New Year’s Eve, we tied the knot. Our marriage had such an interesting dynamic. But, we wanted to go one step further. So, at the beginning of 2018 we decided to work and live together in Mali, Africa. During our time here, Tom helped at a…

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Scrolling through Facebook, a good looking face popped up. He’s so fit, I thought to myself. Living in the same area, I’d known of Paul for about two years. We had a few mutual connections, but that had always been the extent of our relationship. The local ‘bad boy’, I’d always had a bit of a soft spot for him. We’d never really spoken properly. We’d exchanged the odd ‘hello’ and liked a few Facebook posts, but that was mainly it. However, in January 2019, Paul dropped me a message out of the blue. I’d love to take you out some time, he wrote. It was completely unexpected. I didn’t know where it had come from. Only, butterflies swirled as I read his message. Typing back a reply, I quickly…

For a moment, I was frozen in fear. bad things were. But as the shock wore off, and the pain set in, I realised how Looking in the mirror, my face was covered in blood. My skin was peeling away from my cheek. A wide, deep gash was running across my face. Shaking, I quickly rang 999. As I was already on red alert, the police and paramedics arrived within a matter of minutes. Immediately, I was rushed to Aintree University Hospital, where they stitched up the 5cm long, 2.5cm deep gash across my cheek. I also had deep cuts above my eyebrow. Officers found Paul back at the flat and arrested him that very night. He told me there was a bullet waiting for me He was questioned, but…

Toddling around the house, my little girl stumbled to the floor. ‘Oops,’ I cooed, but she soon picked herself back up. At just four-and-a-half, Laura was wobbly on her feet. She had a visual impairment, so we just assumed it was down to that. Only, we were told she had an abnormal gait, which meant she walked with a bit of a jerk. For the most part, she just got on with it, but by the time she was 12, things took a turn for the worse. Within the space of a week, she couldn’t walk without support, and she needed a wheelchair to get around. The deterioration was terrifying, but after the initial upset, Laura simply took it in her stride. Moving her into a specially built bedroom downstairs,…