I went back to my Lancashire roots today and was a guest on BBC Radio Lancashire Ladies@lunch programme along with Liz Swan, a script writer and nurse.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/content/articles/2008/07/07/lal_blog_070708.shtml
Their account of me reads like this:-
Our other panellist, Elaine Hanzak, was in my view one of the most fascinating guests we have had on Ladies @ Lunch so far. Elaine’s life was bobbing along fabulously – married, rewarding job as a teacher for kids with learning difficulties – and having always wanted a baby, she fell pregnant exactly as planned. During the following months, Elaine did everything right – read all the books, diligently went to ante-natal classes – and was very much looking forward to becoming a mother.
When the crunch came, Elaine had a difficult birth – the cord had wrapped around the baby’s neck – but some skillful work by the doctors ensured a safe delivery. But this was just the beginning of a series of events which saw confident, happy Elaine change into a shadow of her former self – her personality dramatically altered, she began to self-harm. Ultimately, Elaine ended up spending two months on a psychiatric ward – and wondered if she would ever find herself again.
Thanks to some wonderful people, she came through the darkness and today you would never imagine Elaine had been through such trauma in her life. Her book, “Eyes Without Sparkle”, documents her journey and she spends her time now trying to help others in similar situations; campaigning for more “mums and tots” beds in hospitals, signposting post-natal depression sufferers towards help from all sorts of sources. Every once in a while, you meet someone who is truly inspirational – and Elaine is certainly worthy of such a tag.
What a lovely account!
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