Sophie Morgan is a British journalist, TV host, artist and disability activist. In March 2022, she released her autobiography. Advance – Shares her journey of resilience and empowerment after a life-changing injury.
Our writer Raya Al Jadir reviews Sophie Morgan’s books, highlighting the honesty told and the artistic narrative that accompanies it.
Who is Sophie Morgan?
Sophie is an award-winning disability advocate, inclusion consultant, and one of the world’s first television hosts for women with disabilities.
She is best known for being one of the lead presenters of the Paralympic Games (Channel 4), a role she held for nearly a decade.
In addition to broadcasting sports, he also hosts his own travel series. live wildincluding consumer and current affairs documentaries dispatch When unreported world is a television personality known for shows like ITV loose woman.
Podcast interview with Sophie Morgan
After reading this book, I had the opportunity to tell Sophie about the experience of writing it and the life she shared candidly in it.
Review of Raya’s Driving Forwards
After 18 years as a disabled woman and 18 years earlier as a non-disabled person, Sophie decided to combine the two halves of her life into a book called Driving Forwards.
The blurb in the book description reads:
She was rushed to the hospital where everything she had dreamed of in life was quickly forgotten and her journey to rediscover herself and build a different life began. If you do, her worries will be almost gone. “
Over the next 18 years, her relationship was put to the test as she struggled to come to terms with the changes in her body. She has had to learn to deal with the many unexpected and unpredictable setbacks of living with paralysis.
She had to overcome her perceptions of obstacles in herself and others and explore the limits of her abilities while searching for love, acceptance, meaning, identity and purpose.
The book is essentially a mixture of memoir and reflection on the past and present, with Sophie taking the reader on her life’s journey and sharing her ups and downs, positive and negative experiences, The most important thing is that we “live” her self.This is certainly reflected in the flow and rhythm of the book.
Advance We detail Sophie’s life-changing injury, recovery, and life afterward.
Sophie Morgan’s crush causes fear and isolation
Surprisingly honest, Sophie’s story is both rare and relatable. But this memoir is far from the “triumph over tragedy” story you’d expect. Sophie’s brutally honest story is filled with (literally) painful setbacks.
To this day, abscesses from allergic reactions to gypsum mean that they have to lie down, sometimes months, to prevent them from getting worse.
Whether you have a disability or not, regardless of the nature of your disability, you can feel a ‘connection’ with Sophie.
For some, it is the transition from a non-disabled young woman to a disabled woman.
For others, it may be the loneliness and loneliness that can only be felt by those who live the experience, or it may be Sophie’s thoughts that many share but are too afraid to voice. .
As Sophie writes in her book: “The only obstacle in her life is ‘poor posture,’ which she wrote in her diary less than a month ago.
But when faced with one of the most inaccessible environments on earth, a person’s attitudes, fears, or even their impediments get in the way, but in the end it is I who truly incapacitates us. I learned the hard way that it is the world around us.
But how much did I have from my previous life that influenced what goals I set in this life? And whose expectations was I trying to challenge? ?”
Despite her bloody heart, she finds that some barriers are simply “too high…to overcome.”
Anyone who has lived with a disability or chronic illness will sympathize with Sophie’s dismay.
She explained this feeling very aptly. The days were clean washed, nameless and blank for me to fill. But what do you do on days when you can’t move? The world went on without me. “
The fear of being left behind, the fear of the world moving on, the fear of being in a situation out of your control, something that most people can relate to, and that’s what makes Sophie what we are today. I’m making you a ‘human’ that you can feel that you didn’t know until now. meet her
They say that sincerity reaches the heart and Driving Forwards will definitely touch the heart of anyone who reads it.
Sophie Morgan Artistically Reflects Life in Slow Lane and Fighting
One of the criticisms the book received during the Disability Horizons book club discussion was the pacing of the book. and ends abruptly as if in a hurry.
From an analytical point of view, you can see that this book is a personal life journey.
Anyone who has experienced hospitalization or bed confinement knows that the days are slow and drag on endlessly. Therefore, this had to be reflected artistically in the book.
As we delve further into Sophie’s life journey, we find her trying to fit in.
She silently endures discomfort and inadequate disabled facilities in case she loses her friends or her job.
Again, this fear that Sophie discusses and explores by processing her own experiences is one that many of our readers are familiar with.
The feeling of knowing that you don’t have a choice in your life, but that you can choose how you react and deal with it.
“Because no matter how strongly we believe in ourselves, how resilient and determined we are, in some circumstances we have no choice but to give up the fight and do our best to let go. am.
Obstacles cannot be overcome, just as fear can be overcome, no matter how much you want it. Just like you may not be able to win the battle against cancer or keep fighting chronic fatigue.
These nonsensical ideals hold the person accountable and ignore the fact that no matter how much they are driven to survive, sometimes that is not enough.
Sometimes you are a victim of your own circumstances and the only choice left to you is how you react to them. I have no other choice. “
learn to live well with a disability
Sophie’s book is clearly not a medical recovery memoir. The well-known “recovery after an accident” story often becomes “how I overcame obstacles.”
Instead, it’s a story of learning to live with disability and to live well.in the meantime
Of course, Sophie will have to adjust to her new body, and she doesn’t hesitate to detail the difficulties. This book is a story of finding identity, drive and purpose to make society more inclusive.
There is power in someone like Sophie not because of how she has adapted to her new life, but because of raw honesty in discussing all aspects of her life and her emotional and mental state. I have.
She doesn’t hesitate to explore what it’s like to have a sexual encounter after an accident. This is an important subject that no one talks about openly.
She’s also not ashamed to deal with the abusive relationships she’s been involved with.
Most importantly, her ability to address and acknowledge her shortcomings is what makes her a powerful person.
The book ends abruptly, but since there are things Sophie doesn’t touch on at length like her partner and friends, it feels like there will be a sequel towards the end.
Sophie finally comes to love her disabled body and feels somewhat at peace with her former self, but one of the most interesting aspects of the book is the relationship between young Sophie and adult Sophie. , is to trace how it starts. Despite the resentment and blame, it has a happy and somewhat peaceful ending.
Still, we need to see what life is like beyond the self-acceptance and love that Sophie finds.
I gave you a book Advance 8/10 rating.
you can buy Advance on Amazon.
Disability Horizons Book Club
If you love reading books and are looking for a friendly community where you can discuss and review collections of disabled and non-disabled authors, join the Virtual Book Club.
If you would like to participate, please email Raya at raya@disabilityhorizons.com. A Zoom link will be sent to you.
Raya Al Jadir
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