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Survival stories

  • Series
Colour digital artwork showing a figurative study of a pair of hands gracefully suspended in mid air, visible from just above the wrists. The hand on the right is held palm upwards, fingers slightly bent. The hand on the left is palm down, fingers extended slightly towards the other hand but not making contact. The background is made up of dark textured rough lines of dark red, dark blue greys and blacks, punctuated by white outlined leaf-like plants.
Surviving a flesh-eating disease, Artwork: Nan Carreira. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

Em Ledger – co-founder of Poor Lass and host of Survivin’ and Thrivin’ – brings together five stories of survival authored by working-class writers. When we feel singled out or different – whether that’s because of serious illness, our sexuality, the death of a loved one, our weight, or being out of work – how do we find the will to carry on? Each essay in this series explores how surviving something significant can shape who we become.

  • Article

Surviving a flesh-eating disease

Nearly dying from a skin infection gave Scott Neill a chance to start again after an early life marked by grief and depression.

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Surviving as an asexual person in a heteronormative world

Experiencing no sexual attraction led Seleena Laverne Daye to feel she was somehow failing as an adult. But she found a way to claim her identity and to thrive.

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Surviving grief when discussing death is off limits

When Iqra Choudhry’s dad died, she lost her words. Here she explains how finding a way to talk and write about loss has been essential for surviving it.

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Surviving fatness

It took time for LMM to discover that being fat and poor are mutually exclusive. Here she describes resisting fatphobia by being visible and leaning in to the stereotype.

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Surviving as a working-class woman without work

An enforced period of unemployment was extremely tough for Claire Hart, a working-class woman with a strong work ethic. Here she describes her feelings during this difficult time.