Jessie Smith- Inspirational Speaker, Athlete & Disability Advocate

An engaging, inspiring and hope filled story which everyone can relate to in some way.

I feel the experiences I have had over the last 9 years have taught me many life lessons, lessons I love to share with others, in the hope it may one day be of use to someone else in need.

My illness has seen me endure countless rounds of inpatient treatment, re-learn how to walk and adapt everything I thought I knew about life. Unbeknown to me before I got sick, is the fact that you grieve for the life you have ‘lost’, for the life you thought you were going to have. This frightened me at first as I thought I was silly for grieving something that had not physically died. Through research of others stories, I found that this is entirely normal, and I so wish I had heard that before I got sick; something I share with my story in the hope it may help someone when they need it most. Depending on the age of my audience, the mental struggles associated with this is also something I am willing to talk about, finding your way back from dark places and being brave enough to ask for help.

I have been riding horses since I was 5, and whilst I know specific knowledge of horses may be lacking in my audience, the lessons I have learnt overcoming the hurdles and challenges in order to return to what I love can be applied to many different aspects of life, completely unrelated to horses. Irrespective of my illness is also the sacrifices made to compete at national level, including a lot of early mornings, training in all weather conditions and dealing with the highs and lows of competitive sport just to name a few.

Whilst I am left with many adaptions to make to my riding due to partial paralysis of my right leg, I have returned to State and National level competition in able-bodied dressage and show horse.

In addition, I am a highly passionate Disability Inclusion Facilitator, sharing my lived experience with organisations in order to better disability inclusion in the workplace and society. I use my lived experience of disability to raise awareness of the issues faced by people living with a disability, in a largely inaccessible society and provide proactive ways to improve or remove these obstacles.

My horses have given me a purpose through the biggest challenge of my life, and whilst I know not everyone can associate with this exactly, I hope through sharing my story and the lessons it has taught me, everyone is able to see that you can turn an awful situation around if you have the passion to do so, but that it won’t be without, and is perfectly normal and ok for it to be with sadness, grief and at times the desire to do nothing else but give up.

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