65 - Jessica Ratcliffe - How being diagnosed with PNH was my wake up call to start living the best version of me and helping others to do the same.

Jess was living what she thought at the time was ‘the dream’ working out in San Fransisco.
 
She flew back to the UK for Christmas only three years ago (at the time of writing,) and by chance her mother encouraged her to visit the doctor to follow up on some test she had had done previously.

 It was this trip to the doctor that potentially saved Jess’ life. Totally unexpectedly she received a diagnosis of an ultra rare, and life threatening blood disease called PNH. Only one in 1.3 million people have it.  Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria.

Jess says, ‘Until the day I was diagnosed, I’d been lucky to never face death. It’s all around us but I’d never truly considered my own.’

PNH means that Jess creates abnormal blood cells. They are abnormal because they are missing the coating they need to survive and not stick together. When they stick together they form blood clots and this is why PNH is life threatening.  Considering the amount of flying Jess had been doing back and forth from San Francisco she could have easily formed a killer clot.

Thankfully Jess has got her condition under control for the time being. This brush with death made her realise that she wasn’t actually living her truth and being the best version of herself that she wanted to be.

An avid reader of Tony Robins and other self development type books Jess decided to launch her coaching business and her workshops under the banner ‘Unleash your Extraordinary.’
It’s such a cool concept as she uses her very practical and accessible skills as a product designer to help you design your own life. Watch the full episode to hear how she does that, it’s very cool and will give you plenty to think about.

Jess says, ‘We all have our own wake up calls. I’m sharing my story with you because it took facing death to inspire me to create the life I want, and I’d like to help you do the same (hopefully without the life-threatening part!)’

https://www.jessratcliffe.com
https://www.facebook.com/unleashyourextraordinary/
https://twitter.com/jessratcliffe
https://www.instagram.com/jessratcliffe/
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The BeGlad Movement is aiming to collect 100 stories of good coming out of bad and reasons to be glad by the end of 2018 to help support each other with our experiences and to raise money for the Samaritans and Action for Happiness. If you would like to donate it would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you!

https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/beglad