Every so often, you need a reality check moment to take stock of what you have – instead of what you haven’t got.
Simon Weston visited Irwell Valley last week. He and Lynne Garsden, Irwell Valley’s Chair of Board handed over a cheque to Help For Heroes for £14,000 – our fund raising for the Charity – before a packed auditorium of colleagues and guests at the Zion Centre in Manchester.
Simon spoke about the moment his ship – Sir Galahad – was hit by an Argentine missile in the Falklands War. The balls of fire, a whistle of cold air, the deadly silence and then his attempts to rescue one of his crew until he realised he couldn’t grasp his fellow soldier - the flesh from his hands had been torn away.
You could have heard a pin drop as Simon described his reconstructive surgery: forty-nine per cent of his body was burned; the 80 plus operations - partly because of the infections from where he had skin grafts; the hundreds and hundreds of units of blood transfusions to save his life.
And then suddenly we were laughing with Simon as he revealed without schmaltz and self-pity but with frank humour and honesty, the personal and public challenges he has faced on the road to becoming the man he is today. He likes who is and what he sees in the mirror. And if we don’t – tough. Simon’s success is based upon what he has – not what he hasn’t.
Truly inspirational speakers are rare but Simon is one of them. He should be bottled up and then sprayed on as and when we have those moments of self- doubt or overdose on self-pity. Recommended Retail Price for The Simon Touch? You can’t put a price on it.
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Best Regards,