An eventful week
11 Oct 2009 21:53
What a rollercoaster of a week I’ve had since my first blog …
Started off by having a really fantastic day last Tuesday at the Team 2012 launch - when I eventually made it. At 7:00 am, just before I was about to leave the house to travel to the meeting point at Limehouse, there comes a knock at the door. I couldn’t believe that the out of competition drugs testers had chosen THAT very morning for one of my routine tests L Wasting as little time as possible I produced what they had come for (!) and raced off to Woolwich Arsenal DLR Station and arrived at Limehouse with literally seconds to spare before the bus departed for the Olympic Stadium.
I was so glad I didn’t miss it because it was great to meet so many other prospective 2012 Olympians all from different sports. I have to admit I had felt just a little nervous at first because I knew I would be the youngest person there, but I needn’t have worried because everyone made me feel really welcome.
It was great fun having all the photo shoots and interviews – I was even featured that evening on ITV’s London Tonight which I hadn’t expected.
However my personal rollercoaster started going downhill at full speed the next day.
Wednesday is one of my regular training nights. I usually get a lift home from school from my dad so that I can freshen up and change before he drops me to the gym. This day was different though as I had to catch a bus straight from school to the gym. After my training session I phoned my dad to ask for my usual lift home and I was shocked when my mum told me that my dad had been rushed off to hospital by ambulance.
He had suffered a serious heart attack and was transferred from our local hospital in Woolwich to the Intensive Care Unit at St Thomas’s Hospital. My mum was told that he had specifically asked that my younger sister, Yana, and I didn’t visit him while he was in intensive care as he knew that it would be too upsetting to see him in that condition. I eventually saw him today – 11 days after the incident but my mum has been up every day. In the first few days she said things looked very bleak for him but I’m relieved to say that he was moved out of intensive care earlier this week and on to a general ward so fingers crossed everything is starting to move in the right direction.
Of course, while all this has been going on I’ve still had to make sure not to miss any training sessions. I have to admit it has been more tiring than usual this week because my day is so much longer with having to catch a bus to school, then another straight from school to the gym followed by 2 back. I don’t think I’ll ever take my dad for granted again – and it’s made me even more certain that I’m going to make sure I can drive when I’m old enough (can’t wait actually!)
I even did a competition called "Britain's Most Powerful Youth" last Saturday at Crystal Palace. It involved a variety of different events such as overhead shot, sprint, triple broad jump and clean and jerk. Although I won it was a bit of a hollow victory as I was the only girl to qualify for the final this year! I'm sure my mum was pleased to have another trophy to dust though... J