A couple of days ago, I was walking in a park when a gentleman, named Sam, sitting on a bench called me, “Sir, can you help me with this report?” I stopped and looked at it and it was his health report. I told him I am not a doctor but I can explain the contents of the report.

I told him the report showed he was diabetic (患糖尿病的). He said: “Sir, my doctor has given me some medicine and I have been taking it for a month and half. But why am I still diabetic?” I answered: “Please follow the diet given by your doctor and exercise regularly. Be positive and stay patient. You will see better results over the next couple of months.”

As I was about to leave, a friend of his sitting next to him stopped me and said, “Sir, he did not tell you one more thing. He used to be an alcoholic (酒鬼) for a long time. But now, since he knew the disease, he has reduced it to once a week from daily drinking.”

I smiled and gently told Sam: “It is great you have reduced your drinking to once a week. Can you now reduce it to once a month and then once in 3 months please? I will meet you right here in 3 months.” He smiled and agreed to do as I told him and meet me with a better health report. It seemed that he got the courage to quit drinking alcohol.

I felt maybe I could prepare a gift for the next meeting.

There is a famous story about how Walt Disney was inspired to build Disneyland. The story goes that during an afternoon visit to Griffith Pack located near the Burbank Studios, Walt took a scat while his two young daughters rode the merry-go-round. Walt thought there should be a place where both children and their parents could enjoy spending some time together in an environment that would be both entertaining and pleasing to the eye, so with this thought came the idea for Disneyland.

Walt’s original plan was to build an eight-acre park located near the Burbank Studios that would be a place for his employees and their families. Those plans were put on hold because of the start of World War Ⅱ. By 1952, Walt had created a special department to build the park.

Finally in 1953, the first steps in building the park happened when Walt hired the Stanford Research Institute to make a survey to determine the best possible location for the future park. Considering population growth and the future freeway construction, they finally found a location in Anaheim and 160 acres of land were bought for the site of the new park.

The building of the park was very expensive and to create funding for the project Walt developed the idea of the “Walt Disney’s Disneyland” television show. It turned out to be a marvelous idea — not only gaining the money to build the park but also presenting the park to the American public.

Construction officially began on July 21, 1954, and it was an ambitious (野心勃勃的) building schedule of less than one year to complete the new park for the projected opening day. Walt watched over the park’s construction and progress continued with just a few minor hold-ups. Finally, the park was ready for the Opening Day on July 17, 1955.

In 2011, she gave birth to her son, Sam, six weeks premature. During the birth his heartrate dropped and during the rush to get him out, Gill suffered a major tear which resulted in a permanent stoma (造口), an artificial opening made in her belly.

She was medically retired from her job as a police officer and diagnosed with post-traumatic (创伤后) stress disorder, postnatal depression and anxiety.

It took several years for Gill to find her feet, thanks in large part to exercise and an optimistic outlook. In 2015 she joined a cycling club and has since done a triathlon (三项全能运动), half ironman, scuba diving, sky diving and more. She has also setup a positivity blog and website called Stoma Chameleon which aims to inspire people who have experienced birth trauma or have a stoma.

“When I had my traumatic birth, there was nothing positive out there about how people can recover from something like that,” she explained before taking her latest swim in the lake at Chillingham Castle. “I wanted to show them what is possible and that they’re capable of more than they think.” Her challenge, which involved swimming in the sea at Boulmer or local rivers and lakes, aimed to raise money for the Birth Trauma Association.

“I am getting my bag out and my bikini on to raise awareness of birth injures and stomas,” said Gill. “I didn’t get my bag out in public until June 2020, and now I am putting up a sign on the beach telling my story to strangers, while walking energetically and excitedly in the icy sea.”