An inspirational Fife grandmother is typing her autobiography with her thumb, after losing her limbs to sepsis.
Crosshill’s Marguerite Henderson, 56, wants to reach out and help others going through a life changing experience by telling her story, in her own words.
She said the project had been a healing process for her after she first started trying to get her words onto paper at the end of last year.
“Just before Christmas time I felt there was so much in my head and I was trying to process things and try to put a perspective on what had happened,” said Marguerite.
“It was like I had lots of pieces of a jigsaw, so many bits jumbled up, so I started to write things down, putting bits of the jigsaw together so I could get a grip on reality.
“I never thought ‘why me?’ because ‘why anybody?’ but I just needed to know why it had happened.”
The quest for answers turned into a labour of love for the determined Fifer who has already written 12,000 words, pushing each letter on her keyboard with her thumb.
It’s tough going and she can only work for short spells, but she said she was determined to keep going and hopefully find a publisher.
Marguerite’s ordeal started with a tiny paper cut.
What happened next was the stuff of nightmares.
Within 24 hours her life had been turned upside down by the deadly infection, which left her fighting to survive.
She spent seven days in an induced coma. Surgeons later had to remove her limbs amid fears she would relapse.
She has now been fitted with a prosthetic arm and legs and is slowly and gradually rebuilding her life.
The former council family support worker had some knowledge of tactics for dealing with trauma but admits it was a bewildering experience.
“I was aware of PTSD and was well aware of what I was going through and was using coping strategies but I also realised I could not do it all by myself,” she said.
She has been getting psychological help after leaving hospital, and started putting her thoughts and emotions down on paper as part of her recovery.
Writing her story has also helped to open dialogue with family and friends about her illness and the emotional toll it has taken on them and she is hopeful that her words might help someone else in the future.
“If I had had something I could have read it would have helped,” she said.
“This massive thing has happened to me, but it has also made me realise it also happened to my family and friends.”
