A Different Kind of Grief
A true story
Marvejols, France, 1993, Jess is an 18 year old on a working gap year as a school assistant, when she develops some mysterious symptoms. On return to England, her plans for Uni are derailed by months of hospital tests, and then the news that she is to face life in a wheelchair. Her future is thrown into uncertainty.
Life will never return to 'normal.'
Honest and funny
A devastating and rare illness altered Jess’s life on the brink of adulthood, leaving her reliant on a wheelchair. She’s spent the last thirty years navigating unexpected challenges and experiencing a devastating grief after losing her usual confidence and fluidity in her speech along with her dexterity and coordination and her ability to walk into a room.
Jess tells her story with unapologetic honesty and humour.
Grief as a lifelong process
Jess feels she no longer looks, speaks or can use her hands and legs the same as she did before her illness. And it’s taken years for her to adjust to her situation. She believes that too much emphasis is placed on physically injured people being asked to assimilate or accept their loss.
Jess hopes that by telling her story she will help others facing similar challenges to realise that grief is a lifelong process.
Meet the author
Jessica Grugeon
Jess lives with her cat Nala in Bedford, where she has spent most of her life. She briefly worked as a school assistant in Southern France which is where her story begins.
Jess volunteered at a local head injuries centre (Headway) for a number of years and is now an advocate for disability rights. She has been a regular contributor on disability issues for her local newspaper and is a co-founder of Bedford Disability Awareness Week.
She has completed two degrees and a Post Graduate Diploma in 2008, 2013 and 2014 at the Open University and A Different Kind of Grief is her first book.
A Different Kind of Grief - coming soon!
Got a question?
jess@adifferentkindofgrief.com
