Living in a sewerage plant would be better than having to go through the appalling times endured in 2009, claims 29-year-old Natasha Price.
Though a debilitating disease robbed ‘Tasha’ of her sight and left her paralysed from the waist down, the bubbly Hereford woman has not lost her sense of humour.
But Tasha, who has two university degrees and had embarked on a Masters’ degree when the first symptoms of the rare Devic’s disease took hold 12 months ago, just wants to be with her mum and dad who live 12,000 miles away on Australia’s Gold Coast.
Tasha, whose footballer father Chris once played for Hereford United, spent months in hospital last year and is now wheelchair-bound. She is now turning her attention to an Open University degree with hopes for helping others with disabilities.
“I have this insight into what disabled people are suffering and so I have this idea of getting into the fundraising and campaigning side of things,” she explains.
Tasha was living with her family near Brisbane when she decided to return to Hereford in 2008 with her sister, Danielle, 18, who wanted to study for her A-levels here.
She praised her sister and boyfriend, James Crump, for caring for her, though when Danielle’s two-year studies end this summer, she plans to return home. “People are so good to me but I miss my mum, she’s my best friend,” says Tasha. “I can’t fight this disease, any of these illneses anymore, on my own. I was not bought up in Hereford so I do not have a large friend base here. I am very lonely and need my family’s love and support.”
Tasha’s fund-raising campaign is in support of the National Organisation for Rare Diseases, a charity helping to fund research into over 100 hugely underfunded rare disorders and the Hereford based charity Little Princesses which provides wigs for children who have lost their hair, usually through chemotherapy treatment. “I cannot bear to think of any child going through the emotional rollercoaster I have,” says Tasha.
She also needs help to fund her return journey to Australia, and to buy a wheelchair when she arrives.
She believes her experiences have happened for a reason. “I just have to think that what’s happening to me isn’t in vain; knowing I am giving something to other people is what keeps me going,” says Tasha.
Tasha has already organised a sponsored head shave, and on March 5 she is organising a 1980s theme disco at Hereford United’s Radford’s bar, and hopes to arrange a 70s event later. A sponsored waxing session is also in the pipeline.
“I have got a good feeling about 2010,” says Tasha. “Anything should be better than 2009. If I was living in a sewerage plant it would be better than last year. The only way is up!”
Tickets for the 80s disco are available from Roddy Hankins on 07855 502043.
