20/10/2026
What you see in a video is only a small part of someone’s story. I wanted to share a little more of mine.
I’ve been off sick from my job as a community nurse for almost a year following major spinal surgery, and I’m still recovering.
For the first six months, I couldn’t drive, couldn’t move my head and could barely sit up. I still have weakness in my right arm, a tremor in my left hand and really difficult fatigue. I don’t know whether I’ll regain full use of my arm or whether the tremor will ever go.
The things that normally make me feel like me have been out of reach, too. I haven’t been swimming for over a year, and anyone who knows me knows how much I love a wild swim. Then, around six months into recovery, just as I was starting to do more, I broke my foot.
It’s been a hard year. Having never been through major surgery before, I wasn’t prepared for how much recovery would affect me mentally as well as physically.
Helping Matt with Wild River Campers gave me little moments of purpose when I really needed them. Making a video, writing a post or answering a few emails helped me feel useful and connected to something beyond my recovery.
Sometimes that meant going along with Matt, sitting at a computer for a little while or having a wander around. But the video you watched was a snippet. The vast majority of my time was spent on the sofa or in bed, watching telly. Honestly, I could probably talk you through every murder documentary going!
So yes, it’s been disheartening to hear that those moments have left some people thinking I could have been back at work. Being able to do a little, at my own pace, with the freedom to stop and rest, didn’t mean I could manage the demands of community nursing.
I love nursing. I also love helping my family. During a really vulnerable time, those small creative moments helped me keep going.
I hope this gives a fuller picture of what life behind the videos has actually been like. Thank you to everyone who’s shown me kindness and support. It’s meant more than you know.
