Fundraiser will help battling teacher

Dubai: If people who smile through the adversities of life are the real winners, Trish Fraser is definitely a champion.

The breast cancer survivor, a schoolteacher from the UK, is now taking on life with an artificial limb.

The award-winning teacher from the Meadows branch of Emirates International School (EIS) lost her left leg after she underwent routine knee replacement surgery in April this year.

Doctors had to amputate her leg due to medical complications.

Trish is still in hospital and must undergo one more operation before she can use her artificial leg. She uses a walker to move about and must battle painful physiotherapy sessions.

She knows her condition will create many challenges in her life, but she is ready to defy disability.

"I am looking forward to going back to school. That is my focus now. If I don't, I think they will miss me so much," said the ever-enthusiastic Trish.

As a learning support teacher, she worked with students with learning disabilities and difficulties.

And the school is equally eager to have their teacher back. The teachers and students of Emirates International School are organising a benefit concert for Trish at the school auditorium on June 17.

Phillippa Duggan, who is organising the concert with her colleague Corlene van Rensburg, said: "Everyone has been so upset about what happened. We thought the concert would be a way to show our love and support to Chris."

The concert will have both teachers and students performing on stage with live video conferencing with Trish and also auctions and raffles.

Trish's daughter Kimberly, who has left her event management job to be with her mother, said the proceeds from the benefit concert would be the family's lifeline now.

Trish and her husband Alastair who is deputy principal at the school, have to deal with new financial demands to pay for her aftercare including buying three to four artificial legs that will cost more than Dh35,000 each, intensive physiotherapy sessions, and updating the house to make it more disabled friendly.

"Without the financial aid, we would have been forced to think about relocating to England. But is wonderful to see how the community has come together to support us, and we don't feel like we are away from home," said Kimberly.

Trish said she was touched by the school's initiative.