Leading on the Frontline

13Purpose and passion

How I lost my sight and found my vision one cold, dark night in England

I had been an adventurous child of adventurous parents. We weren’t the sort of family to holiday at the nearest seaside resort each summer like everyone else. We took the car and zigzagged across Europe. My parents were both committed Cub Scout leaders and I worked hard for every badge, out in all weather. I took their mottos very seriously: ‘Do a good turn daily’ and ‘Be prepared’. On our family camping holidays we would sit out under the stars while my dad taught us their names. He would say to us, ‘Vive la différence! The world is just waiting to be explored.’

In the early 1990s I thought I had everything — married with two wonderful children, living in a smart townhouse, enjoying a challenging career in nursing. It all came to an end quite suddenly. After the divorce, to make ends meet I had to leave nursing, a career I adored, and ended up in a dead-end job that ticked all the financial boxes but made me miserable and anxious.

Then, in 1996, came that terrifying, fateful night drive (recounted in the preface), when I suffered sudden, total blindness, which I would later learn was triggered by work stress. And I vowed then that if my sight returned, I would make serious changes to my life. I would fulfil my quest to find out what it was I was born to do. It was my wake-up call.

Back home, and sighted once more, I started to analyse my day-to-day life. Living had stopped being fun ...