Vicki Wilson – Winner of The Inspirational Participant Award-Heart and Soul Awards 2024.

I interviewed Vicki last week. Here is her inspirational story.

I’m Vicki, aged 48 from Oswestry, Shropshire and I was born with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy. I’m a wheelchair user, but I can walk small distances with a custom-made walking frame. This has been possible through my own strength and determination and with the support of important people in my life, including my husband Stephen and personal trainer Sam James.

Until the age of 18 I had lots of operations on my tendons and muscles, to stop them tightening and turning my legs in. The recovery time was lengthy. I experienced periods of pain, intensive physiotherapy and sometimes spent a month in plaster or lying flat in a hospital bed. After the operations I received regular outpatient physiotherapy under the NHS. However, when I turned 18, I was discharged from paediatric healthcare, and I wasn’t referred to adult healthcare. I was left on my own to manage my cerebral palsy, with only the help of my family and friends.

At this stage of my life, I could have relied entirely on my family and lived a quiet life. But being a determined and strong-willed individual, I wasn’t going to let my cerebral palsy get the better of me. Between stays in hospital, I attended mainstream school and achieved A-Levels and attained a BA Hons degree in Business Management.

After being discharged from the Paediatric team, I recognised the importance of maintaining my strength and movement and I started attending the gym. I have double scoliosis, which meant my spine was shaped like the letter S. Strength and conditioning were important to try and improve my posture. I also sought help from alternative treatments such as Bowen Therapy and seeing an osteopath. The gym sessions and appointments took time and commitment, but I was determined to keep going and over time I noticed improvements in my posture and movement.

In 2018, I experienced a setback. My wonderful husband of twenty years, Steve, fell over whilst carrying me from the car. I landed awkwardly and broke my hip. I required surgery and was in hospital for three weeks. Although I was in a lot of pain, I viewed this incident as a positive experience. I needed to get my mobility back but wanted to improve on what I’d already achieved. I met with two personal trainers, who although were good, didn’t understand the complexities of training a person with cerebral palsy.

That’s when Sam James came into my life, and everything changed. Sam, a personal trainer has cerebral palsy herself. She delivers neurological based personal training. She understood how my muscles worked and how far to push me. Sam has been amazed by my progress over the last two years. I’m walking with my frame most days and walking further and quicker than I have in over 15 years. My strength and movement have improved, and with exercises from Sam, my scoliosis has reduced. Sam set me small challenges. She encouraged me, with the aid of my walker, to move around the drive at the front of our house, as often as I could. She then challenged me to walk from the house to the car. I haven’t managed this since I was 12 years old, and I did it.

Seeing how motivated I was and the progress I’d made, Sam nominated me for Inspirational Participant at the Heart and Soul awards. These took place in July 2024, and on the evening, I was so surprised to hear I’d won. This was such an honour and I’m incredibly proud of this achievement.

For twenty years I worked as an Administrative Officer at HMRC. I gained plenty of administrative experience during this time. In May 2019 I received news the Wrexham office, where I was based, would be closing in September 2020, and I’d have to relocate two hours away. This would be unmanageable for me. I began to think about following my dream of becoming my own boss and made the decision to take redundancy in early May 2020. Although it was the height of the pandemic, being made redundant was the best thing to ever happen to me.

I started helping Steve with his book-keeping business and discovered many of his clients needed help with the admin side of their business. I used my administrative knowledge to become a virtual assistant, and my business Vicky-Admin Fairy was created. My website states. “Vicky Admin Fairy does the tasks that business owners hate and brings order to chaos, clarity to confusion and efficiency to the administration of small businesses.”

My business has gone from strength to strength, and as well as being a finalist in the Independent VA of the Year, I’ve been shortlisted in the Professional Services category for the Female Business Awards, taking place in November 2024.

I’ve never let my life be defined by cerebral palsy. I have good friends and a lovely life with Steve and our two dogs, Pudding and Pippin.

Yes, I have cerebral palsy, but it doesn’t have me. I want to inspire others to go out there and follow their dreams. Anything is possible.

For more information about Vicki’s work visit Vicki Admin Fairy and Vicky Admin Fairy Facebook

Sara Edwards

Family Services Adviser