In 2016 when Issy was 16, she was involved in a bus crash, and it flipped her world upside down. Though spared of physical injury, she developed complex PTSD and avoidance anxiety. She describes the internal prison she had found herself in as “not wanting to go anywhere or do anything at all”. Hearing that she was to become a beneficiary was as though “Ed and Lois had said it’s okay, you have suffered from this accident, and we can see that”. The foundation have loved watching Issy’s natural adventurous side flourish and although challenging, she described her experience walking the full 130 miles of the Cornish coast as one of pure joy and a privilege to walk and talk alongside those that share in her battles. “I felt a freedom in my mind that I hadn’t felt in years”.
We were lucky to watch Issy progress further when she joined us in Iceland and again in France, back to the same stretch of road in the Aosta Valley that ripped so much joy from her life. “It was a crazy, full circle moment” and a process that was “incredibly healing for me”
Issy is excited at the opportunity to see joy in the small moments again and is enjoying the new-found freedom she never thought she’d find. Having recently started a new job as a paralegal, we know that Issy’s comeback has just begun.
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