My own Interview

J – So what disabilities do I have?

I am dyslexic, dyspraxic and I have a heart condition that is called Pulmonary Atresia with Intact Ventricular Septum and Ebsteins Anamoly. I had a stroke on one of the operations for my heart condition when i was young which caused me to have legs problems as one of my legs grew longer than the other. I also have autism and ADHD.

So what started my journey into being diagnosed?

Uhm, so my disability journey started off when I was obviously in my mum’s tummy. When she went for a scan, they said to her that I was going to be born with a heart condition and I had a very low chance of living once I was born, and she could terminate if she wanted to. If she didn’t then it would be a hard journey. She obviously decided not to, and I was born a month early. As soon as I was born, I was rushed straight to Royal Brompton in London, where I went through my first open heart surgery at three hours old and there was a lot of complications after it. I had to be put on a bed of ice for a certain period of time to let my heart rest. It was a very, very scary time for my mum. I was able to go home at some point and then when I was 1 1/2, I went back for my second operation and then when I was three years old, I went back for my 3rd and final one. That operation is the one that caused me to have a stroke on the left side of my body, which later caused me to have to relearn to walk, run, talk even. It really did affect a lot of my motor skills.