AN OUTCAST- but unashamedly and unapologetically ME

Media personality and disability rights campaigner Samantha Renke brings a no-holds-barred look at life, in this extract from her new book

- SAMANTHA RENKE

I've never been afraid of my own potential. Ask anyone what I was like as a child and they will, without hesitation, say I was bubbly, confident, cheeky, funny, and determined. Yet I was never encouraged to dream big.

There I was, a youngster with so much potential and optimism living in a world that couldn't fathom a disabled person succeeding. A world where the adults couldn't see past their own ignorance and narrow-mindedness and the negative stereotypes that labelled me a victim.

Not a badass individual who could dream as big as she wanted and would succeed at anything she put her mind to.

People say they rarely remember what they dream. I do. I used to have a recurring dream about falling head-first down the stairs of my childhood home, my stomach doing somersaults as I lay sleeping.

As someone with brittle bones, it didn't end well. I also dreamed I was eaten by a werewolf.

I lived on in his stomach, from which I could see out, and I watched on in horror as the beast massacred my entire family and went on a slaughter rampage.

Safe to say, I was an anxious child, a habitual worrier. But not all my dreams ended in misery and bloodshed. Often when I dreamed, I dreamed BIG.

I dreamed I was on stage, on television. A pop star, a Spice Girl.

I dreamed I was a teacher. A dancer with a princess dress and tiara, twirling, gliding on the dance floor. I dreamed of my wedding day and my future children. I travelled the world. I even dreamed that I followed in my mum's footsteps and became a nurse.

Big plans