Shortly after shaking out the Sahara sand from my Hoka's and setting up various websites, blogs and getting back to routine, (family, work, studies) my life took on a whole new adventure, an 'adventure' that would see me reach to blackest of holes, challenging me to the ‘endth’ degree; the black scale that would question life, living and why?
As most of you know, I thrive on challenge, I thrive on adventure, no task is too big, yet, all these adventures I undertake are self-controlled, I can jump off at any time, I could shout the words "Get me out of here, I am a celebrity, I refuse to eat crocodile testicles”. This time the 'adventure' was more than, more than running 160 miles nonstop across a barren desert in 54°C heat, more than swimming 60 miles in 44 hours, more than running nonstop across mountains and trails in the bitter polar cold winds of time.
This time, I had no control; I was literally at the mercy of the MACHINE - 'The United Kingdom Government'. My journey literally would take me beyond mind, beyond physical and beyond soul. Where hope self-belief and stubbornness was my only chance of survival.
Most of you will read this in disbelief; most people could never believe that the UK, a 1st world country would treat its citizens in such a draconian and archaic modus.
Believe it, as it happens, as this time, it happened to me, IT STILL HAPPENS, IT HAPPENS IN 2016, what I am about to describe does not come from a movie, this come from MY/OUR life, trust me, this adventure makes running across the Sahara like a stroll in the park after Christmas dinner and 2 litres of frozen yoghurt. Nothing can ever prepare one for what the MACHINE can do your psyche, body, mind, soul. STRESS DOES KILL.
No physical or mental challenge/adventure/journey could ever be as difficult as the last two years have been; for any adventure that I undertake from now on will be conducted with an awareness of anything is possible, it just needs to be undertaken.
WHAT I HAVE LEARNT AND WHAT I WILL IMPART IS CRITICAL TO OVERCOMING ANYTHING - WHEN I SAY ANYTHING I MEAN ANYTHING.
WHEN YOU TAKE ON A CHALLENGE, NEVER FIGHT WITH CHALLENGE; RATHER, ACCEPT IT. THIS IS THE FIRST PORT OF CALL. ACCEPTING THE FIGHT, RATHER THEN FIGHTING AGAINST THE FIGHT, WILL LEAD YOU TO FIRST HALF WAY MARK AUTOMATICALLY. ANGER, ANNOYANCE AND THE LIKE WILL DEPLETE YOU OF YOUR MOST VALUED COMPDITY – ‘TIME & STRENGTH’.
ONCE I HAD ACCPTED THE FIGHT, I WAS RELEASED FROM THE ANGER; this did not mean I did not have or did not feel anger, I FELT IT, SLEPT IT AND LIVED IT, I still do feel it, I just did / do not allow it to consume me. I took me a whole year to reach this state of awareness, learn from me, and release the anger.
So I hear you say, come on what the hell have you experienced; well, as per my biography and from past posts, I have a very endearing, loving and an incredible enigma of a child. I fought for 4 years to get the world wide medical profession to listen to me, finally Cambridge University and the world wide genetics programme came forward; they agreed to research my son, to cut a long story short, 8 years later, and a phone call that stopped me in my shopping tracks, “the needle in the global hay stack was found”. The answers that I knew would arrive where published. #SETD 5 - A rare neurological intellectual condition, so rare that at the time he was one of six in the world. Two years later there are now 9 incredible human beings with this rare condition. This condition has gone on to underpin major brain function and forms part of the first building blocks of life. Medicine has been changed and history has now been written.
Well, getting back to the blackness and the most difficult challenge of my life thus far started just after I got back from the Sahara Desert in April 2014. As my son's condition is so rare, it took me 18 months to research 35 secondary / high schools that would be best suited to his needs and disposition. I eventually found one (not quite the spot) but as near as it could be, considering, no schools would have the know how apart from me in how to educate, stimulate, progress and transpire my son; however what was important was the ENVIRONMENT. ‘Some’ could say that I am a parent who simply wants to be pushy or have the best of everything; well, that is so far from the truth it is off the scale. Don't we all want to achieve? However there is a distinct difference in wanting the best and making change whilst trying to arrange your disabled son’s life so as to include, progression, passion, integrity, equality, and care and the LAW. Why it is that the vulnerable and disabled and those without a voice are treated worse than shit?
Working 19 hours a day, takes its toll, however securing a school and life that will enhance my child rather than reverse his progress was and will always be my absolute.
My government decided in their inept 'wisdom' to 'loose' my son’s paper work, files and high (secondary) school application. Now, whilst I account for humans to make mistakes, it went downhill from there. The Disabled should have priority……. I don’t want to swear, but this is the biggest bullshit ever. The government refused to acknowledge my son, his needs, his rare syndrome and most of all his intelligence. His duality of conflict; my son cannot help for having a damaged brain, yet my government decided to state the following:
"All disabled people are the same, therefore they can all go to the one school" - now whilst I am a disability activist and fight for equality for all, this statement went beyond any reasonable understanding of such. Let’s simply place disabled children away, get them out of sight. I said ‘fcuk you, and stood up and refused to acknowledge that my government want to hide my son away. He is a human being, he has a soul, and he has a mind, a heart, is intelligent yet is simply rare and complex.
What followed was something not even Stephen King could conjure up on Friday the 13th were it to fall on 31st of October!!!!
So I set to work, taking on one of the most powerful governments in the world. It started securing a court tribunal to try and get my son into his school, based on the level of his intelligence, aptitude and disposition. This said school was not just my planning and interventions, but also recommend by all Clinical, Medical, Analytical and Psychological Professionals. It was not just a case of “stubborn parent from Chelsea”…. My government in their inept wisdom decided that it would cost too much to educate him, in the only school that would fit his disposition. After months of fighting legal teams and where the UK Government continued breaching legislations, regulations and local policies, I had my day in court; I had to represent myself as I was down to my last load of bread……What transpired after court and written into the final decision was a well-known legal phrase in UK legislation scribed as "if it burdens the tax payer, then your son will be hidden away".
I had a choice; I either send my son to an institution that would ultimately cause the then 10 years of work/progress and clinical and analytical therapy to regress, as well as causing his mental and emotional health to slide in an eternal black hole of despair or I could halt my life, place my ‘everything’ on hold and home educate/home school him whilst standing up and fighting one of the most powerful governments in the world, so that my son could be and would be acknowledged as a human being with own thought, own intelligence own mind despite his rare damaged brain.
The UK government clearly did not like this or me in fact, and for the last two and half years, I faced criminal prosecution after criminal prosecution, (That's right you read correctly, CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS, I am simply a mother trying to have her son acknowledged as an equal human being) as well as countless litigation streams, meetings and failed attempts to have ‘them’ actually acknowledge my/our situation.
The list of failures is far too long to list them all, however, ‘failures’ like unlawful actions, illegal practices, abuse of powers, to name but a few as well as both local and central government, failing to read paper work, failed to motion the law, failed to apply the law and failed to follow due legal process; judges and clerks of courts not even knowing the law/legislation let alone understanding the law or even applying it correctly, and failing to adhere to just about all human rights charters.
My government tried in vain to quash me, belittle me, and push me over the edge; yet, by this very process, it was the found that the State (UK) that had committed crime yet had found it in the inept, corrupt, incompetent approach to charging me for it.
It would be the same as if one of you were being criminally charged because your government committed fraud. Not only did the UK government act unlawful and illegally, they abused powers, failed to apply correct laws, lied, covered up, and ultimately breach all UK legislations.
I am just a humble red headed girl with freckles, ‘somewhat’ educated and with a wealth of global life experiences to add to my belt, yet how the hell would I take on the UK? There was only one way, simply take the UK on and play them at their own game, so I took on the machine. The more ‘they’ stabbed me, the more I fought back.
One must understanding that when taking on the Machine one must be prepared to lose oneself; ones physical state of body, ones state of mind, ones financial status, ones job, ones family, ones friends and one’s life and just about everything else. When one accept this, then its game on. The best of all, and the best lesson of all – losing it all is one of the best freedoms ever, the strain of having ‘stuff’ weights you down. Less is truly more.
So, having lost everything fighting this machine of the UK; job, house, financial, and so called PRETEND FRIENDS, (friends who couldn’t even be bothered to reply to my messages when I asked and begged for help, their excuses were “I am too busy” – and placing my own studies and research on hold; I turned to myself, and my late dads words, Dad: "You can achieve anything Janet, all you have to do is believe in yourself, mind over matter, if you want it enough, it's yours! Your path is awaiting, your goal is at the end, and it’s simple: JUST DO IT, plan, prep, action and do! The outcome is irrelevant, as whatever you have started will continue to pave the way for everlasting change."
So with two friends who stuck with me, and my now broken body and mind, I took to studying the specialised law, neuro-science, and psychology and just about everything else I could study.
With no more money, I had a choice, do it myself or let it go and allow my child to suffer; as no barrister, advocate, solicitor etc. wanted to help me. They all said, it would be impossible, as the Government always wins.
Call me arrogant, call me stubborn call me naive, but when you are the expert and when faced with every door that is closed, what have I got to loose. So, I went to the top, went through all the courts, judges, top barristers and started hounded them all, door after door after door slammed closed, no money no help, or your case is too complex we don’t have the expertise or capacity.
So I cried and faced criminal prosecution after criminal prosecution alone, because my government decided to act unlawfully.
I decided to turn to international and European law, as ultimately they supersede UK law/legislations, again door after door closed, so I went alone. To the point where I now have MGD (Meibomian Glad Dysfunction) from crying so much that I have no more tears.
So what were the chances of an international court listening to me, well I thought what the hell, what have I got too loose, so I used my past careers and got to work. I played the government at their own game, for every wrong they did, I would highlight it, and so it went on and on. It was only a matter of time before they would slip………..its law of physics really, allow someone to keep fcuking up and eventually they will hang themselves.
I submitted my Legal Bundle to the International and European courts, I literally had two weeks to complete 100 years of legal work, as with any legal case submissions one is usually tied to mitigating time frames, so I worked 23 hours a day every day, with 30 minutes for sleep and 30 minutes to sleep in a ‘bath’. Two weeks later, I posted it special, registered and signed for mail all in one go, just to make sure it was received. The chance of it being accepted was at least 0% let alone them getting back to me, as I had exhausted all of the UK avenues, I let it go and thought well at least I tried. BEHOLD 3 WEEKS LATER, a case was lodged. WILLICOTTvsUK.
WILLICOTTvsUK – I literally urinated in my pants; what now I thought, how the hell???? One year later, I have just completed my Educational, Neurological and Medical research to back up my entire case bundle. I literally have to find the time to type it all and head down to the post office so as to submit for round two with the international courts.
However last week, after their first futile attempts to criminally charge me for educating my disabled child and a year later still facing a second criminal conviction, I decided to pen another heavy litigated email pointing out all their unlawful and illegal manoeuvres they have tried to pin on me, I gave them 24 hours to either put me in jail or face the tune of damages into the 0000000’s – the very same inept idiot incompetent unprofessional who tried in vain to charge me and the very same inept incompetent idiot who said – quote “Mrs Willicott, all you care about is yourself” and “You will never get an apology from me” – wrote in his submissive undertone that the UK Government had conceded and that all proceedings would be withdrawn.
THE UK GOVERNMENT HAD CONCEDED ......... FINALLY THEY COULD NO LONGER DESTROY ME - FOR I WAS IN FACT WAS LAWFUL, MORALLY SOUND AND A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH.
I will spare you all the shit, gore and guts – it’s just too much to type as I will most certainly bore you all with the level of blatant abuse, I and my son have suffered.
Funny how I was told in my earlier years that I should simply write powerful letters to get people alerted, has come full circle, and funny how a humble girl with freckles and red hair can have such prominence, when bringing down the UK Government?
It is far from over, I have three (3) more hurdles to overcome, 1) Educational and Disability Tribunal (The Government have failed to updated a legal Education and Health Statement and for the Judge to grant my son his school, who have been waiting for him to start for the last two years) – 2) Failing that, Judicial Review is set to motion where the court case to fail 3) International Court case hearing based on my sons direct discrimination based on Equality, Disability, Education, Medical and Human Rights Laws.
4) MY DAMAGES CLAIM
My journey is far from over; but with the international courts going to hear my son’s case and with him being the first citizen to sue the UK for SEN provision based on his rare disability - I can securely say and state; “I have done everything in my power, I have done everything I can do as a human being and everything I can do as a mother and single parent to secure a suitable future for my son as well as the rest of the UK’s citizens.
When you follow you inherent gut instinct, open your heart and STAND UP to the UNLAWFUL ACTIONS OF YOUR GOVERNMENT, Study and research all the LAWS – and more importantly can back up your claims, show truth, and can lay claim to a hypothesis, by having credible sound clinical research, as well as having an incredible son, the path is paved for CHANGE. TRULLY NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE AND EVERYTHIG ATTAINABLE.
It is not enough that my son
has to live with his daily struggles to simply get by? Is it not enough that he
can choke to death at any time of the day or night, is it not enough that he
could die were his brain to stop functioning whist eating, is it not enough
that his working memory forgets every day, is it not enough he can’t read or
write, is it not enough that he has to carry out physio therapy every day just
to keep his head and neck up, is it not enough in that he can’t hear in one
ear, is it not enough he can’t use the toilet accordingly, is it not enough his
speech is dysfluent, is it not enough he has mini absent moments, is not enough
his muscle tone is poor, is it not enough that he has a heart murmur, is it not
enough that he had to have full reconstructive surgery to his genitalia, is it
not enough that he can’t balance, is it not enough that his brain (corpus
callosum) is additionally damaged in that he can’t process neurogenically, is
it not enough that he faces discrimination every day, is it not enough that he faces
inequality every day, is it not enough that he disability discrimination every
day, is it not enough that he has bullied and ignored, is it not enough that he
has to work 1000 harder to achieve what a main stream peer could do in 5
minutes, is it not enough that he will never be able to FULLY lead a life like
those inept unlawful idiots who have gone out to ruin me and destroy my
son??????
Is it not enough that he has
to face abuse from the very government who say they want to protect him?
BUT WHAT IS ENOUGH IS THAT
BASTIAN IS FULL OF LOVE, HE NEVER STOPS TALKING, AND HE IS INTELLIGENT IN HIS
OWN RIGHT, HEIS CARING, JOYFUL, RARE AND SUPER AMAZING.
TO SAY THAT MY SON
REPRESETNS 1.5 BILLION PEOPLE ON EARTH IS OUTSTANDING.
TO SAY THAT MY SON HAS
CHANGED THE MEDICAL WORLD FOR THE BETTER AND HISTORY MADE IN UNDERPINNING THE
MOST PRECIOUS HUMAN COMIDITY CALLED THE BRAIN – IS NOTHING SHORT OF A
MIRACLE.
This whole process has come at a cost to my health, sadly, I am losing my hair, I have aged considerably in the last two years, my physical side has waned, and I have all but given up on socializing, going out and simply want to hide away. Idiot friends have got up and left, but life is better without them, idiot friends have hounded me to other interests all the while forgetting I am on my own fighting one of the hardest trails I have ever had to endure. Mentally down, physically down, black is my new in, sadly I have to have a minor operation to remove a cancer this weekend, however In the meantime, I will keep moving forward, keep making change and paving a way for ALL PEOPLE as I am sick and bloody tired of GOVERNMENTS AND POLITICIANS DESTORYING PEOPLE AND THEIR LIVES.
WHAT EVER COMPESATION I GET AWARDED WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH TO RECLAIM MY LIFE GONE, NO AMOUT OF MONEY WILL RECALIM THESE YEARS MY SON HAS SUFFERED.
I will use that lost time to believe that I have made a change to the world.
I will eventually re-start my challenges again, ‘Running my Ultra’s, Desert Ultra Races, Polar Expeditions, and the rest however more importantly I will be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in September all being well.
As you can see, despite my lack of silence over the many months, I have been buried away undertaking one of the hardest challenges/ultra of my life, I may have taken a while, but I have completed and won part 4 of 7 of my nonstop race and my record thus far is SUCESS with a gold medal.
I will resume my sport blog as soon as I have moved to my new home and settled in. For now, as in the worlds of Nelson Mandela, “Everything seems impossible until it’s done”.
Whether you are a first time marathon runner, first time Ultra Runner, or first time Extreme Adventurer, or even if you are ‘Normal-like-me’ human, starting off with any challenge no matter how big or small, regardless of what it is, YOU HAVE TO START, YOU HAVE TO WANT TO START AND YOU HAVE TO WANT IT. YOU CANNOT ACHIEVE ANYTHING IF YOU MINDSET IS ELSE WHERE, OR IF YOU HEART IS SET ON SOMETHING ELSE.
NOTHING CHANGES IS NOTHING CHANGES, if I can take on the UK Government, anyone can.
Go out, fight for it, own it and be it, breathe it and want it. NEVER LET ANY ONE TELL YOU, YOU CANT. IF FRIENDS DISHOWN YOU – LET THEM GO, IF FAMILY LEAVE, LET THEM LEAVE.
YOUR PATH, YOUR TRAIL AND YOUR LIFE.
FIGHT ON, RUN ON AND TAKE NO SHIT and WEAR GOOD SHOES.
Forever #BlisterFree
Dedicated to my Son Bastian and to all those who fight to be heard every single day throughout the world.
Jani the Fiery Freckly Ultra Girl
#normal-like-me.org #janetwillicott #SETD5 #bastianwillicott #standup #neversurrender #standup
