BRINGING DREAM TO LIFE
BLIND since the age of 11, Leteisha Murray hasn’t let that stop her from doing what she loves. The Toowoomba woman has started her own business – Sixth Sense Jewellery – and is selling pieces to the public from Jazzy Lane Hair Studio in Duggan St.
She said being able to share her work with other people meant a lot.
“No matter what disability you’ve got, you give things a go,” she said.
LETEISHA Murray is living proof that anything is possible when you put your mind to it.
The Toowoomba woman, who has been blind since the age of 11, has started her own jewellery business – Sixth Sense Jewellery.
She mainly makes earrings and bracelets with the help of her “awesome” carer Brooke Lowry.
Brooke helps her by describing the colours and helping with the crimping.
And Ms Murray’s pieces have been walking out the door of Jazzy Lane Hair Studio where they are being sold.
“Being able to share my work with other people means a lot to me,” Ms Murray said.
“It sort of puts it out there that no matter what disability you’ve got or what you think, you give things a go.”
It’s that kind of battler attitude that has helped Ms Murray through life.
She had a brain tumour operated on in the Royal Children’s Hospital in 1999.
“I lost my sight to a brain tumour when I was 11,” she said.
“And nobody knew that I was going to come out blind until they operated on me.
“So waking up out of intensive care and not being able to see my parents – it was so scary.”
A second tumour grew back a few months later, which was treated with radium.
And she has dealt with ongoing health problems since then.
But through it all, working on jewellery has always brought her a sense of calm.
“It was in school when I first started making jewellery and got into the knack of it,” she said.
“I continued doing it because I love it; I’m very fond of it and I feel like it relaxes me a lot.”
Eventually she was making too much jewellery for herself.
And after seeing Ms Murray’s work, Gay Hold of Jazzy Lane Hair Studio offered her a spot in her studio to sell her pieces.
“So I thought I better sell something – like how much jewellery do you want, girl?” Ms Murray joked.