Blind Strathpeffer mum set to see her first book published
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A STRATHPEFFER mum struck blind by diabetes has written a children’s book after being snapped up by a London publisher.
Emily Gray’s paperback, Priscilla the Pig, was inspired by her mother Heather’s childhood stories at Woodlands Farm in Dingwall.
The 29-year-old University of Highlands and Islands literature student lost her sight after being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. “It came as a shock because there was no family history of diabetes,” she said.
Ultimately she could no longer walk around without help – a massive shock to the system.
Forced to drop her music studies degree course at Edinburgh’s Napier University, she admitted the experience was “horrific”.
Getting help from Sight Action “was a massive help”. Guide dog April came into her life and the following year she gave birth to her first child, Harris.
During pregnancy she mused over her own childhood settled into writing her first story using a voiceover computer programme. It’s illustrated by self-taught Nairn artist Sarah Jane Cumberford.
The full-time mum has a lot on her plate and now relies on her main sense of hearing.
She said: “Luckily I’ve got a very noisy little boy. It’s easy to keep track of him. I can generally tell if he’s getting up to no good.”
A former pupil of Strathpeffer Primary and Dingwall Academy, she said: “I’m on a mission to show people that it’s not the end of the world and you can still achieve anything you want. “
Emily’s book is published by Olympia Publishers on Thursday under her pen name, Madeline Rose.
