Rising From the Ashes Of Adversity:My Phoenix Award Nomination!

There are moments in life that stop you in your tracks.

Not because they are loud or dramatic, but because they arrive quietly, unexpectedly, and hit you right in the heart.

This week, I learned that I have been nominated for a Phoenix Award.

After the year I have had, that word alone feels emotional to write.

Phoenix.

Rising from the ashes.

At the start of this year, my life changed completely.

I became seriously ill and spent several months in hospital undergoing urgent medical treatment and rehabilitation.

It was frightening, exhausting, painful, and at times deeply uncertain.

When life narrows down to survival, your perspective changes. Ambition changes. Priorities change.

There were moments when “getting better” felt impossibly far away. Moments when simply getting home again felt like the only goal that mattered.

And yet somehow, through all of it, I held onto one thing with absolute certainty: I was not done yet.

I wanted my life back.

I wanted creativity back.

I wanted purpose back.

And slowly, step by step, I began rebuilding.

Not perfectly. Not quickly. Not without setbacks. And certainly not fully recovered even now.

But I came back.

I reopened my photography work this summer, and alongside it, I threw myself into building a completely new creative business; something born partly from humour, stubbornness, therapy, survival instinct, and a lifelong love of foxes.

Creating again became part of healing again.

Then came the nomination.

Liz Bell, who kindly gave me permission to share part of her nomination, wrote this:

“Through dedication, determination, and consistency, she established herself in a new part of the country, with her calendar filling up with bookings and enquiries.

Then disaster struck.

Andrea contracted an aggressive illness that left her unable to work and hospitalised for several months while receiving urgent medical care and rehabilitation.

Throughout it all, she held onto one certainty: she would return home and resume her photography, her passion. And she did.

Not fully recovered by any means, Andrea’s resilience and determination have carried her forward. She has reopened her books this summer while also exploring new creative avenues of income alongside her photography business.

To me, Andrea is an inspiration and the embodiment of the Phoenix Award.

I am delighted to honour her and the qualities and strength she continues to show as she rises from the ashes of her recent health crisis.”

I welled up when I read it.

Not because I see myself as inspirational.

Truthfully, most days I still feel like someone simply trying to catch up with life after it was turned upside down.

But being seen through somebody else’s eyes like that… after such a difficult year… means more than I can properly express.

This nomination is not just about me.

It belongs, in part, to every person who carried me through the darkest months of this year.

My family. My friends. The people who visited me. Messaged me. Sat with me. Checked in on me. Encouraged me. Made me laugh. Helped me believe I would eventually find myself again.

You know who you are.

Thank you.

The truth is, resilience is rarely glamorous. Most of the time it looks messy, exhausted, frightened, frustrated, and uncertain. Sometimes resilience is simply continuing.

And right now, continuing feels like enough.

So whether I win anything or not, this nomination already means more to me than I can explain.

Because after everything this year has taken, it quietly reminds me of something important:

I’m still here.

And I’m rising.