By Salt 106.5 TeamFriday 26 Apr 2024The Morning Wake-up with JordanaInspirational StoriesReading Time: 3 minutes

Paula Gowland is a Sunny Coast local with an incredible story to tell – and she isn’t wasting a moment!

Key points

• After having her leg amputated, Paula spent 756 days in a Sydney hospital, facing years of recovery and learning how to live again.
• Paula’s new book ‘Legless – One woman’s journey from trauma to triumph’ tells the story of her journey, 10 years on.
• Hear the full conversation in the listener above.

Her new book ‘Legless – One woman’s journey from trauma to triumph’ tells the story of her journey, 10 years on.

In 2014, Paula’s life took an unexpected turn when she fell off a bed while trying to hang some freshly washed curtains. Landing on her feet, she broke her leg downwards, in four places. As a result of rapid swelling, operating was delayed which caused external fixation.

“By the time they went in [to operate on] what was just a normal broken leg, my leg was dead and still dying,” Paula told Salt 106.5’s Jordana.

Add surgical complications, and Paula wound up in a Sydney hospital, with her leg amputated.

“It was pretty traumatic actually,” she said of the whirlwind which changed everything.

Paula spent 756 days in a Sydney hospital.

Over the next few years, Paula spent 756 days in a Sydney hospital, with her family and business back home on the Sunny Coast.

“I didn’t think I’d ever be able to be a good mum, be a good wife, work again,” she said.

“Everything sort of came crashing down in one year.

“John and I had a cleaning business here on the Sunshine Coast [but] it’s a little hard to clean when you don’t have a leg.”

“I didn’t think I’d ever be able to be a good mum, be a good wife, work again,” Paula said.

Paula’s mental health was a prime focus, as she faced years of recovery and learning how to live again.

“I knew that I had to get well and get rid of the infection and get strong enough to be able to go home,” she said.

“It was actually minute by minute and then it became hour by hour.

“I would actually set myself things in that short amount of time.

Paula and her husband are Sunny Coast business owners again, having lost their first business when her leg was amputated.

“One of the goals that I had in the early days was just to get out of bed and have a shower – that was what I had to achieve just for that day.

“Just having that dream of being able to get back to who I was before, was my end goal – I had to get home and be with my family.”

Paula’s advice to those in a difficult situation?

“I think just setting one thing a day to change, or find a solution to whatever it is that’s bothering you,” she said.

Hear the full conversation in the listener above.

Feature image: All photos supplied