I Defeated Death Twice ... And Now I Embrace Life

Waking from a coma and paralysed down her left side, Kirsty Salisbury whispered a vow that she wasn’t going to let her medical crisis ever limit her.

- Fleur Guthrie

The then-12-year-old had been a competitive gymnast with Olympic dreams. There had been nothing to suggest she couldn’t make her goal a reality – and certainly no health problems to stand in her way – until one night when she woke with an excruciating pain in the side of her head.

Attempting to get out of bed, the youngster collapsed on the floor, waking her mother with the crash.

“The next thing I know, I’m coming out of a coma with tubes everywhere,” recalls Kirsty (41), who had flatlined twice during emergency brain surgery.

She was told an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) had burst within her brain and surgeons had to abort the operation to save her life.

“I had what I believe was a near-death experience. And when I woke, I remember having this amazing sense that my life was perfect the way it was and everything would be okay,” recalls the professional speaker and author, who has drawn on her survival story for her book A Life by Design and a series of podcasts.

The prognosis indicated Kirsty would probably regain some feeling and movement, but might not live a “regular” life again. She’d have to give up sport, including gymnastics, and would likely need ongoing help with daily tasks.

But the doctors didn’t take into account the young girl’s penchant for pushing the boundaries “in everything”.

She explains, “I didn’t know if I would walk again or not. But I wanted proof that I couldn’t rather than just accepting that I couldn’t.