WHAT would you do if you suddenly couldn’t walk, hold a pen to write or even feed yourself? One thing that Gilly Pierce didn’t do was to give up.
Artist, Gilly Pierce is a 62-year-old Botha’s Hill resident who uses her mouth to hold a paint brush to paint beautiful pieces of art that are transformed into bookmarks and greeting cards.
She lives in the beautiful assisted living home, Acacia Care Home, and paints to contribute to the cost of her accommodation at the home. She was born in Johannesburg and moved to the south coast when she was engaged to be married.
When she was 33 years old she suddenly started falling for no reason. For four years she visited doctors doing numerous tests to find out what caused the falling.
“I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 1991 when I was 37 years old. My life came to a halt, all my life I played sports and loved horse riding,”she said.
Multiple sclerosis is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body. Gily loves to travel and she was a travel agent before she was diagnosed with MS.
Trish Adams, the owner of the assisted living home and an artist herself, helped Gilly realise her talent and taught her how to paint.
“For three years I didn’t do anything, it is all thanks to Trish that I do all that I do.’ Gilly had never painted before, not even at school.
She is also a motivational speaker, she speaks in churches and to organisations such as women’s institutes. “I tell them my life story and hope it inspires,” she said.
“I was so sure that I will always be able to hold a pen to sign my name or hold a spoon to feed myself,” Gilly said.
Gilly said that her life came to a stop when she became ill, she never married her fiance and never had any children, as she had hoped she would.
Her words of encouragement to anyone affected by sudden disability were: “You have got to keep your mind occupied. Challenge your self to do something good. I get satisfaction from doing something and achieving my goals,” she said.
Her motto in life is to never give up, “I have a very strong faith. God is always there for me. He will never send something my way that He thinks I can’t handle. I refuse for it to get the better of me,” she said.
