Happy International Women's Day!

It's International Women's Day! Here we look at the story of Blesma Member Shona Brownlee.

“I looked down after my operation, and I didn’t have toes any more, which was odd,” she says. “I woke up and things were different. I was worried about having a stump – I just couldn’t imagine it – but it’s actually fine. The situation I am in now is much preferable to what I was going through before.”

Shona was injured during the final exercise of her Basic Training in 2012. “It sounds stupid because it was such a minor thing,” she says. “I slid off a ledge into a loading bay and didn’t realise it was bad – I thought I’d just twisted my ankle and would be able to walk it off.

“But when I got back to base and took my boot off, my leg was black and blue, it was bruised up to my knee and very swollen. I had suffered severe ligament damage but thought I was lucky. In actual fact, a break would have been much better. The injury developed complex regional pain syndrome – which is basically when your nerves don’t fire correctly.

"My foot was useless for six years. It swelled up, and I couldn’t walk on it. Eventually, after all the medical options were exhausted, I decided on amputation,” says Shona. “I didn’t want to be on crutches or have to deal with that level of pain for the rest of my life, so off it came. Straight after surgery, I felt much better. I was happy, and now I realise how much it had been affecting me. It was definitely the right decision.”

Shona can now concentrate on what drew her to the military in the first place; playing the French horn and piano. “I’ve got a degree and a master’s in music, and before joining up I worked as a session musician, taught, and performed – anything that paid the bills! But I wanted some stability, so I joined the Royal Air Force. I’d expected training to be horrendous, but I enjoyed it before my accident. Even though I was injured, I’ve stayed in and now play in the bands, take part in concerts and recording sessions, and play in the Officers’ Mess.

“Apart from being in uniform, the job isn’t that different from being a civilian musician. Marching is obviously a big part of being a military musician, though, so I need to get back to that. I’m learning to use a prosthetic now, and we have trousers on when we parade, so nobody will ever know!”

“I’d never skied before my injury, but I’ve got reasonably good since – I won a prize at the RAF championships! It’s a cliché, but it’s true that skiing gives you freedom. Everyone is on the same mountain, regardless of whether or not they have been injured! The gondolas can be tricky, but I’m learning quickly.”

And meeting other amputees through Blesma is having the kind of benefits that all Members recognise.

“I meet other Members and straight away they tell me to try this or that,” she says. “It gives me a network and, of course, they laugh at my paper-cut injury. That’s good, because it normalises things. Blesma is great for that, and the Association was invaluable when it came to helping me with advice about my prosthetics. I’m really glad I got involved!”