Life & Style | General

"How I took my life back"

Juvenile arthritis struck Katrina Thornley before she had learnt to walk or talk. She shares her story with Louisa Wilkins.

  • By Louisa Wilkins, Aquarius
  • Published: 00:00 July 1, 2010
  • Aquarius

  • Image Credit: Supplied
  • Katrina Thornley is trying to lead a normal life despite her condition.

When 28-year-old Katrina Thornley was nearly 18 months old, she stopped trying to walk and just sat and cried. Her mother took her to their GP, who diagnosed Katrina with Still's Disease - the precursor to Juvenile Arthritis.

Katrina talks to Aquarius...

Before... "I was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis at age two. From then on, my mother had to put my legs in splints every night and I had to take a lot of painkillers. Arthritis is an autoimmune disease, which means your immune system attacks your body's good cells.

This causes joints to become very sore and weak, which makes it difficult to do ‘normal' things - like turning on taps, using door keys, opening water bottles... The disease also affected my physical development, so certain bones didn't grow at the rate they should.
 
By age ten, I was being badly bullied at school because I looked different and, in addition to the arthritis, I was suffering from gastric problems because of my medication. My health deteriorated when my parents divorced and I was off school for six months.

"By 16, my wrists were weakening, which stopped me playing sports and meantI had to have a scribe in exams. I had a small group of close friends, but I was still being bullied - mainly by younger children. I was depressed and felt excluded from society, school life and friendships.

The turning point… "By the end of GCSEs, I volunteered to do the school yearbook. I started getting to know the ‘cool' people in my year and they started getting to know me. I finally felt accepted by my peers and had confidence in myself. I was fed up with being pushed around and I was stubborn - I thought, ‘You can either let it beat you or you can fight it.'

My new found confidence gave me the strength to take ownership of my life.

As a result... "When I came back to school after the summer, I felt like it was an opportunity to be a new me. I became very sociable and made a lot of new friends.I joined the debating team and organised their annual ball, although a wrist operation meant I was in hospital the night of the event.

"When I was 23, after graduating from university,I went to New Zealand tovisit my father and travel for six months. I heard people talking about doing ski seasons and, even though I had been told when I was 13 that I couldn't ski because of potential knee damage, I wanted to experience the ski season environment.

"By that point, both my wrists had been fused with titanium meaning I couldn't bend them, which limited me work-wise.I ended up cleaning cars in the freezing cold snow.

"I always wished I could ski. Eventually a friend said, ‘Why don't you just try it?' So I did - and I learnt to snowboard. The only difficult part was getting myself up when I fell over, because of my wrists.

"Learning to snowboard made me realise that life is for living and I have to make the most of it while I can. So, while I was in New Zealand, I also went skydiving, swam with dolphins, did white water and black water rafting, and zorbing - rolling down a hill in a big plastic ball. After New Zealand, I went travelling around Australia with the friend who pushed me totry snowboarding. He is now my husband.

Since then..."We moved to the UAE about three-and-a-half years ago. I joined Emirates Arthritis Foundation (EAF) last September as their Patient Support Director.

Moving on... "I snowboard,I drive, I work... this year I did the 10km route in the Standard Chartered marathon to raise funds for EAF... now I am thinking about having babies, which means coming offmy medication.

My doctor told me I could do whatever I put my mind to. I often see arthritis patients who are depressed - they feel like they'll never get married, never have a job. My message to them is this: There are people out there who are not taking it lying down. Focus on what you can do, not what you can't do. You only have one life, make sure you use it well."

EAF aims to improve the lives of people living with arthritis. For details, visit www.arthritis.ae.

Got an inspirational story to share? Email aquariusedit@alnisrmedia.com.

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