IVF was a long and expensive journey (Picture: Emma Kemsley) When doctors told me there was nothing they could do to save my baby, I had to make an impossible choice: end our baby’s life, knowing I’d never be pregnant again or continue a pregnancy knowing that my baby would never survive. Four years on […]
15 Oct, 2025 | Admin | No Comments
I went 27 years without ADHD medication — I thought nine months would be okay
How does pregnancy impact ADHD? (Picture: Jodie Marie/Metro) Standing in her bathroom, eyes fixed on the pregnancy test in her hand, Jodie Marie felt a rush of shock and joy as two unmistakable red lines appeared. She and her partner had decided to start trying for their first child just a month before, and they […]
15 Oct, 2025 | Admin | No Comments
I was just 14 when I first spotted the signs of my dad’s dementia
When Ollie’s dad was diagnosed with early-onset dementia at the age of 55, his life changed forever (Picture: Supplied) When Ollie Ruscoe was growing up, his dad Simon had been very hands-on. The pair loved playing football in the garden or going swimming together, and Simon was always there for his son whenever he needed […]
Shocka is telling his story for an important reason (Picture: Supplied) Striding into the Metro office, Kenneth Erhahon, better known as Shocka, has a contagious smile on his face. Some might feel it’s at odds with what he is here to discuss — being sectioned four times — but the 37-year-old became a mental health […]
Over the course of six years, Gerard McAliece’s nose grew larger and larger (Picture: Ever Clinic / SWNS) It was six years ago that Gerard McAliece first noticed that his nose was exponentially growing in size. Now 68, he initially accepted his condition as his new reality – but things came to a head when […]
My endometriosis symptoms appeared when I was 11-years-old (Picture: Elodie Giuge Photography) ‘Is there anything else you’d like to ask?’, the surgeon queried. ‘You wanted to ask if your cervix was being removed,’ my husband Chris prompted me. It was my final appointment before my extensive endometriosis surgery, which would also see me having a hysterectomy […]
12 Oct, 2025 | Admin | No Comments
I thought my husband just liked moaning — but his grumpiness was a symptom of a deadly disease
Jean Gurrey began noticing husband Mark’s mood change (Picture: Brain Tumour Research) When Jean Gurrey, 69, noticed her husband, Mark, 70, becoming short-tempered and irritable, she put it down to him ‘just liking a good moan’. But when he also began experiencing mini seizures, a CT scan in January 2023 revealed his increasing ‘grumpiness’ was […]
12 Oct, 2025 | Admin | No Comments
‘I didn’t want to use jabs to lose weight, so tried therapy instead’
Bi-monthly therapy sessions sat at the heart of Christine’s weight loss journey (Picture: Chrstine Swain) Christine Swain was on holiday in Marrakesh last year when she asked her husband, Richard, to take a photo of her. Lounging in a bikini in front of a stunning rooftop view, she thought it would make a lovely picture. […]
I’ve struck up conversations with at least 70 people over the years (Picture: Michael Redina / Sam Lane Photography) Walking through my local park recently, I noticed an elderly man sitting alone on a bench, just staring ahead. He looked sad and something about his demeanour didn’t seem right. Pausing for a moment, I went […]
12 Oct, 2025 | Admin | No Comments
My fiancée helped me beat cancer – then got her own terminal diagnosis
Hannah started chemotherapy during pregnancy (Picture: Brett Harman) I’ll never forget the day I was told I had cancer. It was September 2015 and I was just 26. For weeks, I’d been feeling exhausted, plagued by back pain, and picking up infections from the smallest of cuts. When I finally went for blood tests, and […]