I’m Nina and I turned 35 whilst I was in hospital.
I’ve spent my life working as an online teacher for second language learners, teaching in Asia for six years before my injury. My aim after my injury was to launch my online business of Nina’s TMT (Tailor-Made Teaching). I’ve always loved teaching second language learners. They have a lot of gumption and from my experience are incredibly motivated. With students from China, Thailand and Vietnam, I am hoping to reach that audience, as I have come to know and understand their culture, and this has a huge impact on how students learn.
I was a victim of domestic violence and suffered a spinal injury whilst I was in Scotland on New Year’s Day. I was in the Glasgow Royal Infirmary for a week, then the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow for a month. After that, I was transferred to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, London. I continued my rehabilitation at the London Spinal Cord Injury Centre for over three months.
I was in hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic, so everything was very different. Mentally, I was not in the right place in Scotland to spend time beyond the ward, although I used to read to the elderly ladies in my bay. It was nice as I could improve my motor neurone skills while helping the other patients to relax by listening to my reading.
When I moved to Stanmore, I improved a lot. The nurses and NHS staff were really welcoming, kind and helpful. I felt as though I could finally breathe once I arrived there and that was when I started writing. All new patients had to isolate for one week following the Covid-19 protocols and guidelines. Therefore, I had my goal planning meeting the following week and it was there that I shared some things I wanted to explore. So, three weeks after my arrival, I finally got to go and see the rest of the hospital and discover Horatio’s Garden.
It was still winter, but the volunteers were getting ready for spring, and you could see the daffodils starting to sprout and blossom. It was wonderful! The greenhouse became my second home for the winter, and it was great to learn planting tips from Ashley in the garden. I also loved spending time outside feeding the birds and making up their feed of nuts, seeds, and peanut butter on the weekends. As quick as they were filled, they were gone!
Most of all, I loved sewing cushion covers with the Garden Administrator, Tracey. She showed me how to use a sewing machine, as I never knew, and I can still remember all the intricate details. Tracey said I’d become quite the pro in a very short time!
As spring came, there were so many craft workshops, and I was lucky to try so many things. I found the nests, Easter baskets, and plant pots wonderful to make. It was therapeutic for me, as all my focus was on the details of what we were making. I did not have time to overthink or rethink the events of my injury. I did not have, nor did I want, to allow anything else to be or become an intrusion on the activity that I was doing. The activities were so useful and satisfying. I just loved them.
All the creative workshops enabled me to clear my mind and once I started doing the activities, my cooking, baking, and poetry began to flow again. I felt as though I’d had 24/7 writer’s block before. The garden gave me that safe space mentally and emotionally. I could use the small garden rooms to write, to draw, to paint, to meditate, and the garden offered me the chance to learn skills and hobbies that I never would have tried prior to my injury. I feel lucky to have found my creative side again and for my poetry to have come back to me. It allowed me to release my anger into something. It transformed something bitter into something that I am proud of.
Although I was in the spinal centre during the pandemic and restrictions were in place within the hospital, the garden provided a place for my family and I to meet at a social distance in the beautiful surroundings. My family received peace of mind that I was in a safe place and learning new skills, while they also enjoyed the gifts that I made for them. My mum loved the glass jewellery making class, while my sister adored the Easter plant pot making.
I will always remember so many wonderful things about my time in Horatio’s Garden. One is that once I had written a poem, I would share it with Tracey or Ashley, and seeing their eyes and faces listening intently would just light up the room. I also really enjoyed the way the glass jewellery making workshops transported me back to school too, that was such a lovely experience. However, most of all, I loved the cushion making and card printing workshops with Tracey.
My hope upon leaving the hospital was to move somewhere comfortable with either a front or a back garden, so that I could continue to plant. I intended to focus on my career while sharing my poetry at lots of different events. In the long term, I still hope to publish a poetry book and help out with volunteering in Horatio’s Gardens across the UK.
If I was to say one thing to anyone going through a similarly tough time, it would be to keep going and that if you need to put your faith and trust in something, or someone, then do it with the team in Horatio’s Garden and with the hospital’s staff. The people will help and support you to get better, so use the people that are assigned to you and if you need to talk with someone, then there are people there who are willing to listen.
And if you feel that gardening isn’t your thing, then the Horatio’s Garden team will go above and beyond to find something that’s suited to you. It’s just who they are and what they do.