I know that putting on a show at Edinburgh Fringe won’t make me famous or rich, but for a sick person laid in bed day after day, it is something I have dreamed about. I am now so close to making that dream come true I just cannot walk away without a fight.
I had it all in January. I was part of a duo and was promised I wouldn’t have to worry about a thing. It (the Edinburgh show) was all taken care of. But this was all to come at a price and in the end it was too high. I am now going solo again but this time without a sponsor to cover my costs. Which is why I started this fundraising campaign.
Life in a recession is hard for anybody but if you are also facing sickness the extra stress can almost break you. When we lost our home last year I made a mental promise to myself that when my body gave me enough energy to do anything, I would do something big to ensure that my children never go through this again.
Then along came this project! I know it will do good things. The ‘right to die’ will always be a controversial subject but instead of being argued by politicians and doctors who each have their own agenda, my show, Sick Girl, discusses this issue from a patient’s perspective. If hearing my story gives one person the courage to speak up about the right to die, it will be worth all the stress I have been through to put this show on.
Sick Girl is a true story. My story. I had a baby in 2010 which left me with an incurable disease that could kill me; any minute, anywhere, any day. I don’t know why it happened to me but at one point my family and I were suffering so much that I contacted a leading euthanasia organisation to help me die.
At 35 with two small children this action was deemed selfish, irresponsible and weak. So I have written this show to help me be as honest as I can to explain why I felt the need to end my life on my terms.
Thankfully though, I didn’t die! (Unless I did, in which case the afterlife is a bit of a let down!) Instead I was offered a lifeline and I wake up each day so glad to be alive and rarely think about how much longer I have to live. In fact, that question can never really be answered by any of us, can it?
But the one question that can be asked is; that if life got too bad and you were in such pain or couldn’t function anymore, would you choose to opt out or wait until nature takes its course? My show explores this and I hope that it will make you laugh and possible cry as well. Why? Because comedy and tragedy are the best of friends – oh and I’m a comedian, so that helps!
To help my show Sick Girl get to Edinburgh click here!
