about Jenny Sheldon

I was a School Teacher Drama and English; I had a stroke in 2007 and everything changed for me. I had a ‘Left Cerebral Accident’ I couldn’t speak I had ‘Aphasia’; Aphasia is not being able to think of things instantaneously. Imagine being a teacher and not able to say a simple sentence!! I was very depressed I was in ‘black hole’ I couldn’t get out of.

I used to be a Jazz Singer it was singing that saved me. I was able to sing the words of the song; apparently the right side knew how and that was something I could do and it was enjoyable and I needed it. I used to be a member of Northern Rivers Choir ‘Voices in the roar’ and they came to sing at the rehabilitation. It was a long road and 3 months in rehabilitation, I moved to Sydney, my family was there and I needed them. They better Rehabilitation services there. I was determined to make the most of my life.

I learnt to drive again and that gave me freedom. And I was going to write a story. I was determined. I thought I could write it on my own but I couldn’t. So I looked around for someone to help me and I found Christine William’s she was at the Sydney School Art & Humanities in Circular Quay. She was wonderful.

I knew Sharon Dean from the Northern Rivers and I worked with her at the aged care home and she wrote stories of the people that lived in the nursing home. She was now in Sydney and agreed to work with me. I didn’t know she could help tell my story but she had a PhD in 2011 and had won a Chancellor’s medal for her work on the haiku writer Janice M Bostok.

I went on a journey of my life, to the Northern Rivers and interviewed relevant people. I wanted to write this almost instantaneously when I had the stroke but I had other things to worry about like communication: I had ‘Aphasia’ and I only said ‘Yes, No and I don’t think so’ and communication was the key, I had to say more than that and with the help of a speech therapist and my own will to get better.

My account of her recovery, I Will: A Memoir of Stroke, Renewal and the Power of Song is my triumph – and I am hoping a compelling example to others. Co-authored with writer, Sharon Dean, the narrative explores a decade of stages of recovery with humour and passion.

Jenny is inspired by her favourite authors, Georgette Heyer, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and Lucy Maude Montgomery.

Contact Jenny