I Lost an Internal Organ and Gained a Lifelong Purpose
The worst moments of your life can positively shape your destiny.
When I was 11, my appendix burst.
My parents thought I had a stomach bug. I spent three days in bed, eating dry toast while gangrene slowly poisoned my blood.
Our family doctor caught it right before it was almost too late.
I was rushed to hospital at literally 100mph (I remember seeing the speed dial and telling Dad to slow down). Within hours, I had life-saving surgery.
I spent the next few days with a pipe stuck in my side and staples in my abdomen.
And the best part of the whole story?
It happened on Christmas Eve.
December 24, 1999. The year I started High School. What a way to see out the 20th Century!
I rang in the new millennium on my own in the living room, watching the fireworks go off over the London Eye. My parents celebrated in the front garden with the neighbours.
Let me tell you, even relatively-minor surgery like an appendectomy leaves a mark, physically and mentally.
At the time, the days and weeks that followed my operation were painful. Recovery was slow. I lived in constant fear my scar would open up again.
But it wasn’t all bad, in hindsight.
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