On this day 30 years ago, a baby girl called Emma was born. She has lived an extraordinary life for the past three decades. On here she is best known as the founder, creator and author of this blog… me – Emma Purcell!
To honour my milestone birthday, I want to share my 30 favourite memories over the past 30 years:
1. My first pet, Hunnybunny, the rabbit
This has to be one of my earliest memories. When I was a toddler, we had a large grey pet rabbit named Hunnybunny. I am not sure how or why she was called that.
I enjoyed stroking her and feeding her carrots. Then one day I was told she had moved away and flown up in her hutch into the sky to bunny heaven. Of course, when I got older, I discovered the truth that she was killed by a fox and her body disappeared…. poor bunny!Â
2. My first powered wheelchair
When I was three years old, I was given my first powered wheelchair through a disability charity and it was presented to me by first team members of Portsmouth FC. It was a bright green outdoor chair that I walked to school in, went to the park and played football in.
Unfortunately, at age 7, I had to give it away because I grew out of it. It was, and still is the best wheelchair I have ever had.
3. Appearing in the local paper
When I was seven, my Dad was in the Royal Navy. I cannot remember the full details but I think a military charity gave us money for me to have an adapted wet room and we were featured in The Portsmouth News newspaper.
Over a decade on, I have been lucky to do two work placements at the paper and have had articles published.
4. Dressing up my wheelchair at school
My favourite memory at primary school was dressing up my wheelchair on fancy dress days. At Christmas 2001, I dressed up as Santa in his sleigh. In Spring 2003, I dressed up as Michael Schumacher, the F1 driver in an F1 racing car.
5. Family holiday to Florida
In February 2004, we went on a dream holiday to Florida where we went to Disney World, Universal Studios, NASA Space Centre plus much more.
6. Attending my first school disco
In my final year of primary school, I attended our leavers school disco. It was great fun with lots of party food, music, dancing and spending time with friends before we went our separate ways to secondary school.
7. Joining a drama group
When I was aged 10 I joined my first drama group. It was a great experience which has inspired me to continue joining theatre groups into adulthood. Plus my first group is where I met my best friend who I have known for almost 20 years.
8. Collecting our family dog Sasha from a rescue centre
When I was 12, and after a lot of pestering from me, my family surprised me with the news we were getting a dog. I never forget the day I met Sasha at the kennels and how excitable she was. She lived a long and happy 15 years and went up to doggy heaven on 8th September 2021.
9. My first week at boarding school
In 2008, I began as a student at Treloar school and became a weekly boarder. It was great fun living away from home and being able to make ever-lasting friendships.
10. Joining in the rebellious strip night at school
This has to be the ultimate highlight of my school days. It was basically a very funny and slightly inappropriate game of truth or dare.
11. Residential school trip to Cornwall
While at Treloar school, we got the chance to go on a residential trip to Cornwall where we got to take part in outdoor activities including abseiling, boat riding and country walking.
12. Attending my first live concert
At age 15 I attended my first live concert, which set me on the path to becoming a live music fanatic – thank you Lottie.
13. My first music festival
In summer 2012, I attended my first music festival at Reading Festival. It was the greatest live music experience of my life and have attended a music festival almost every summer since – thank you Lucy.
14. Attending the FA Cup Final at Wembley
In 2010, I attended the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium between Portsmouth and Chelsea. It had an incredible atmosphere, I was given audio-described live commentary and the view was spectacular. Just a shame about the result.
15. Getting my GCSE results
After a crazy and stressful couple of years full of lessons, coursework, revision and exams, I finally secured my GCSE results. My proudest moment was getting an A in English (which shows why I love writing).
16. Getting my A-Level results
After another crazy and stressful couple more years full of lessons, coursework, revision and exams, I finally secured my A-level results. The next stage was then university.
17. My 18th birthday night out
My first proper night out drinking alcohol was amazing. Lots of laughs, singing, dancing and maybe some vomit. That night will always be remembered by me singing along to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.”
18. Trip to New York
Also for my 18th, I went to New York for a few days. It was a buzzing and vibrant place and I’m eager to explore it more one day.
19. Visiting the Harry Potter film studios
I have been lucky enough to visit the Harry Potter studios 3 times: twice in 2012 and a third at Christmas 2017. Every time I go, there is always more to explore.
I’m now set to visit the wizarding world for a fourth time as part of my 30th birthday celebrations on 20th January 2024.
20. Being a bridesmaid at my friend’s wedding
A moment I will treasure forever is being asked by one of my college friends to be their bridesmaid at their wedding. It was a wonderful day and they are such a lovely couple.
21. Graduating from university
After an even more crazy and ridiculously stressful couple of years full of lessons, coursework, revision and exams,
I finally graduated from university. Although my uni experience wasn’t great, at least I made it to the end.
22. Getting my second rabbit, Mickey
After university, I felt very low and lonely. Therefore I decided to treat myself by getting a pet bunny. His name was Mickey and he was the cutest, softest and friendliest creature ever. Sadly he passed away in 2018 but he will never be forgotten.
Watch Mickey in action in this YouTube video.
23. Getting my third rabbit, Dusty
About six months after losing my beloved Mickey, I was ready to give a home to another cute and fluffy rabbit. Dusty became my new fur baby in January 2019. I admit he isn’t as adventurous as Mickey but does love his treats, strokes and giving me kisses from the comfort of his cage.
24. Seeing Harry Potter in the West End
In 2017, I saw Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in the West End. It was an incredible performance and I was lucky enough to get a touch tour and meet some of the cast.
25. Creating this blog
One of my proudest moments is creating this blog. It is great fun to write, I continue to learn a lot of skills and appreciate all the support.
26. My first published article at Disability Horizons
Since the age of 11, I have had ambitions to become a journalist. Then aged 18, my dream became real when my first ever article was published on the online magazine Disability Horizons. From then I became a regular and loyal writer for them for over 11 years.
I was gutted when Disability Horizons had to close down in April 2023 but I’ve made some great memories and gained lots of experience, which I’ll take with me onto my next business ventures.
27. Interviewing celebrities
Throughout my time at Disability Horizons, I’ve had the opportunity to interview dozens of high-profile and famous people within the disability community. For the past five years, I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing people including Ade Adepitan, Alex Brooker, Ruth Madeley, Sophie Morgan, Shaun Ryder, Lauren Steadman, Libby Clegg and many more.
Also, having all these contacts available to me will mean I can use them again for future projects, for instance, in my new role as a guest booker at the lABLEd Podcast.
28. Visiting Naidex – Europe’s biggest disability exhibition
Another benefit of my connections at Disability Horizons was that I’ve had the opportunity to attend Naidex – Europe’s biggest disability exhibition. The first time I attended was in March 2019, which was my favourite one.
After seven years of speaking to the team via email and Zoom, I finally got to meet some of the DH team in person for the first time, which was lovely.
I also got to meet up with other people who I only ever get to speak to virtually too. Plus, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Warwick Davis there as well. He was a perfect gentleman and said he was happy to pass me his contact details and have a photo with him. Sadly, almost 5 years on from that meeting, I’ve never had the opportunity to interview him, despite him agreeing to when we met that day.
29. Becoming an AccessAble Ambassador
Since November 2018, I have been an Ambassador for the social enterprise AccessAble, which provides detailed access guides to more than 100,000 venues across the UK. I’ve had the pleasure of producing blog content and videos, promoting its services and raising awareness of disability culture and accessibility.
Also, pre-Covid, I attended several meetings with local authorities and councillors to present what AccessAble does, the benefits of detailed access guides and how they could fund guides in their area.
30. Becoming a co-founder of Crip Lifeâ„¢
Following the closure of Disability Horizons, my colleague Joanna and I decided to start our own publication and in May 2023, we launched Crip Lifeâ„¢.
Since then, we’ve published 70+ articles including a review of Rosie Jones’ ableism documentary, a piece discussing whether sports broadcasters are ableist towards disability sports, an article asking why fireworks affect disabled people and content celebrating disabled climate activists.
We’ve also interviewed several high-profile people including disabled actors Jack Carroll & Tommy Jessop, blind comedian Chris McCausland, deaf DJ Troi Lee, amputee footballer Shelbée Clarke, disabled cricketer Callum Flynn and inclusive fashion designer Victoria Jenkins.
We’d appreciate you getting involved and supporting Crip Life™ in any way you can. This can be done by subscribing to our monthly newsletter, following us on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & LinkedIn), advertising with us, publishing your research and/or donating to us.
So these are my 30 favourite memories over the past 30 years. I hope the next 30 years bring more happiness, laughter, love and achievements.
