Overview

On a Saturday morning in May 1980, Melanie Bowen, a pretty fifteen year old, ran down the stairs of her parents’ home in Port Talbot, grabbed her leather jacket and crash helmet, yelled a goodbye, and then walked out of the front door into the sunshine for what was to be the last time in her life. Never Say Die is the true story of what followed… Since the motorcycle crash that left her paralysed from the chest down, Melanie's life has been one of extremes. On the down side, she has endured 5 horrific months of despair and indignity in rehabilitation, undergone a colostomy at 23, been in another serious car crash, suffered syringomyelia and the terrifying prospect of full quadriplegia, been diagnosed with breast cancer and broken several bones. On the plus side, however, she's won medals in athletics for Wales, been humbled and inspired by Falklands veterans at RAF Chessington, raised thousands for charity, become a major disability poster girl in America, dabbled with the film world and been screen tested for a movie, met the Queen, and set up her own rehabilitation charity, whose patrons include the acclaimed actor Michael Sheen, Dame Tanni Grey Thompson and former Welsh Rugby captain, Gwyn Jones. She has also, against all the odds, found lasting happiness, having fallen in love with and married the surgeon who 25 years earlier told her she would never walk again.

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9780007317523

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Melanie Davies (nee Bowen) was adopted as baby and grew up in Port Talbot. Since her accident in 1980 she has been involved in a variety of Charitable endeavours both in the UK and the US and in 2000 she set up her own charitable trust: TREAT*. Its aim is to build a state of the art rehabilitation and therapy centre to meet the needs of the people of south west Wales. She married retired orthopaedic surgeon Mike Davies in 2004, three years after them being reunited by Mel’s charity, following his first wife’s tragic death from a stroke. Since their marriage, Mel and Mike have been in the news more than once. In 2005 they were subjects in an ITV documentary – ‘Unlikely Lovers’ – and as a result of their extraordinary romance becoming public they have received a great deal of covering in the national press, including the Sun, Grazia and Best magazines.

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