My story - How an injured dolphin helped me heal
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ|July 2022
When Melody Horrill met damaged solitary dolphin Jock they formed a powerful bond that helped Melody confront her past and change her future.
- Melody Horrill
My story - How an injured dolphin helped me heal

As he slides under my palm my fingers brush against his cool skin, which feels as soft as the finest mulberry silk. I'm weightless, suspended, my feet can't touch the ground. I tread water to keep afloat. As I awkwardly bob, the wild dolphin dives, surfaces, and floats effortlessly before me. He is spraying me with his sonar, perhaps to ensure that I'm not some erratic mechanical marine object - I am flesh and blood - a mammal-like him. The soundwaves from his echolocation permeate through me, I feel as if my insides are jingling and jangling. It's the strangest feeling. Foreign. This whole experience is weird yet so unbelievably wonderful. I think to myself, 'Shouldn't I be scared? This is a completely wild creature and I'm in his world ... not mine.' I answer myself immediately: 'He won't hurt you Mel, he wants to understand what you are. Trust him'.

I allow myself to surrender and become immersed in the moment. The dolphin has moved away, eyeing me inquisitively. I reach out and a grossly disfigured dorsal fin slices through the water towards me. The dolphin pushes his snout into my hand. I run my fingers over it. It's rough like sandpaper. I'm shocked by the contrast. My hand traces his mouth. It feels lumpy, scarred. My heart aches, I feel compassion wash over me. What has this dolphin been through? Does he have emotional scars as well as physical ones? He gently nudges me. I felt completely accepted. The feeling is foreign yet liberating.

この蚘事は Australian Women’s Weekly NZ の July 2022 版に掲茉されおいたす。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トラむアルを開始しお、䜕千もの厳遞されたプレミアム ストヌリヌ、9,000 以䞊の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしおください。

この蚘事は Australian Women’s Weekly NZ の July 2022 版に掲茉されおいたす。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トラむアルを開始しお、䜕千もの厳遞されたプレミアム ストヌリヌ、9,000 以䞊の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしおください。

AUSTRALIAN WOMEN’S WEEKLY NZのその他の蚘事すべお衚瀺
PRETTY WOMAN
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

PRETTY WOMAN

Dial up the joy with a mood-boosting self-care session done in the privacy of your own home. It’s a blissful way to banish the winter blues.

time-read
3 分  |
July 2024
Hitting a nerve
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Hitting a nerve

Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes could aid physical and mental wellbeing.

time-read
5 分  |
July 2024
The unseen Rovals
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

The unseen Rovals

Candid, behind the scenes and neverbefore-seen images of the royal family have been released for a new exhibition.

time-read
2 分  |
July 2024
Great read
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Great read

In novels and life - there's power in the words left unsaid.

time-read
2 分  |
July 2024
Winter dinner winners
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Winter dinner winners

Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of budget-concious recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.

time-read
3 分  |
July 2024
Winter baking with apples and pears
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Winter baking with apples and pears

Celebrate the season of apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the cold weather blues away.

time-read
7 分  |
July 2024
The wines and lines mums
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

The wines and lines mums

Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.

time-read
10+ 分  |
July 2024
Former ballerina'sBATTLE with BODY IMAGE
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Former ballerina'sBATTLE with BODY IMAGE

Auckland author Sacha Jones reveals how dancing led her to develop an eating disorder and why she's now on a mission to educate other women.

time-read
7 分  |
July 2024
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN

When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.

time-read
8 分  |
July 2024
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START

Responsible for keeping the likes of Jane Fonda and Jamie Lee Curtis in shape, Malin Svensson is on a mission to motivate those in midlife to move more.

time-read
5 分  |
July 2024