Thanks for joining me! In the words of the fabulous, bearded lady from the Greatest Showman…

I am brave, I am bruised, I am who I’m meant to be…

This is me.

The title of this post is misleading, because my journey began long ago, in a land far away. Well, it was the Isle of Man, so technically not that far but for the purpose of quote familiarity 😉 I was born on the island in 1974 and that is where my journey began. I flew the first leg of it as a wee baby, heading for Frodsham in the north west of England to a care home run by the NCH. From there I was swiftly taken home by a somewhat overwhelmed Juliet and John, in the back of their Mini Clubman.

Within six months of living with them in Stockport and not long after I was officially adopted, I was referred to hospital by my GP for blood tests. He was concerned at the level of bruising I was showing, unusual for a baby, he said. This was when I was diagnosed with severe von Willebrands disorder.

Since then a fair bit has happened. If you want to read all about that, I suggest you buy a copy of my mum, Juliet Batten’s book: Funny Blood. It’s still available from me or her and is honestly fascinating. What I’m intending with this, my second blog, is to write about the events of my life since the book. It will be about bleeding, campaigning, mental and physical health, happiness, sadness, love, life and hopefully it’ll interest you.

We shall see. Welcome along.