A WALK TO REMEMBER

On her wedding day, Natalie Nowak, 33, had a very special surprise for her unsuspecting husband

- FRANCESCA WOODSTOCK

Turning to look at myself in the mirror, I could hardly believe it was my own reflection. Wearing a satin ivory gown with a lace bodice, I felt like a princess. ‘This is the one,’ I said to my mum with a smile.

It was December 2021, and I’d just picked out my wedding dress. ‘I can’t believe I’m getting married,’ I squealed as Mum wiped a tear from her eye.

For me, it was exciting, but for her, it truly was unbelievable. You see, this was a moment she had been told would never, ever happen.

When I was born in June 1989, my mum Sally, then 32, and dad Lawrence, 38, knew something wasn’t right. Mum was a nursery nurse so she noticed I wasn’t meeting milestones. They fought for answers and, after a year of speaking to specialists, I was finally diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

Doctors told my parents I would never learn to walk, talk or sit up, and I had no chance of leading a normal life. As far as they were concerned, there was no hope. But Mum and Dad refused to give up.

For two years, Mum performed physiotherapy on me at home before discovering a charity called Brainwave, which helps children with neurological disorders.

The charity takes the approach that most of us only use around 10 per cent of our brains, and they’d developed exercises to encourage other parts to start functioning.

Mum practised simple activities with me, like picking up shapes over and over again, and by the time I was three, I’d taken my first steps. It was a huge breakthrough, and slowly I learnt to walk and talk, already defying the odds.