Despite my young age, I like to think I've had a very interesting and challenging life so far, a journey that has led me to adopt a clean living and healthy eating lifestyle.
I was born in 1997, the eldest of fraternal twins. Mum has always had a focus on real food, we didn't eat white bread or fast food - in fact neither myself or my twin knew what white bread or McDonald's was until my Aunt looked after us for a week while my parents were away!
My health challenges started young too, I was taken to hospital in an ambulance for febrile convulsions at 10 months old. When I was seven, my mother took me to a dermatologist because I had blackheads on my legs. To my mother's surprise, I was taken out of the room after the Doctor had finished his examination. He then diagnosed me with Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1), an autosomal dominant neurological disorder. NF1 is associated with a number of learning difficulties I demonstrate, including reading/writing difficulties, visual spatial problems, working memory impairment and attention deficits . Like other children with NF1, I experienced difficulties dressing, holding pencils, hopping, running and riding a bike. I had been receiving intervention for my coordination difficulties for years as they had been picked up by my occupational therapist along side my ambidexterity. Having NF1 also puts me at a higher risk of brain, adrenal gland, muscle and spinal cord tumours.
In my lifetime, we have always used non-toxic household and bathroom products as my father has sensitive skin, but our focus on nutrition, supplements and the benefits of clean, non-toxic bathroom products came about in 2008, when after a family holiday I developed a necrotising ulcer on my leg. I was diagnosed with Pyoderma Gangrenosum, an auto-immune disease that is very rare in children. This disease put me at much higher risk of IBS, Rheumatoid Arthritis and a whole host of other health issues. To be 10 and told that you can't play sport or spend too much time outside in the sun was devastating. The only treatment my doctors could offer was cortico-steroids and pain killers. This was not enough for my mother, whose extensive research background allowed her to find a revolutionary dressing that would take the pain away, natural supplements to support my immune system and antioxidant tablets that we crushed and put on the ulcer to heal it. She also (much to my 10 year old horror) put me on an anti inflammatory diet to support my body as it healed. To the amazement of my doctors, what my mother did worked well and far better than their treatments.
Ever since, we have strived to live clean, eat clean and share what we've learnt with others.
