‘THE DAY MY SON BECAME MY HERO’: ALISON CANAVAN ON RECENT ILLNESS
Wellness guru Alison Canavan has always instilled her clean lifestyle and positive attitude into her little boy James too – and it paid off when he recently came to her rescue
Her Full 360 seminars, which take place in venues right across Ireland, are all about self-care, mindfulness and nurturing a healthy mind in a healthy body. And having overcome obstacles including depression, anxiety, alcoholism and the stresses of single motherhood – using a combination of meditation, a healthy diet, plenty of sleep and gratitude – wellness guru Alison Canavan, 40, practises what she preaches.
So when last month the former model from Dublin suddenly became seriously ill in London – her seven-year-old son James heroically raising the alarm so his mummy could be rushed by ambulance to A&E – Alison could not understand how someone with her clean lifestyle and positive attitude could weaken so dramatically.
‘I had bacterial pneumonia and pleurisy, I was anaemic, my white blood cells were down to nothing,’ she says. ‘I kept saying to my amazing consultant Dr Coker in London Bridge Hospital, “But I’m really happy, how can this have happened?” She said, “The healthiest of people get struck down by these viruses. It’s nothing to do with how you live.”’
Compounding her confusion was the fact that Alison had been feeling fine in the lead-up to her ‘terrifying’ collapse on August 18. ‘We went over to England for my mum’s cousin’s 70th for the weekend. I took everyone to see School of Rock on the Friday night and I said to James in the taxi on the way back to my friend Karen’s flat, “Mummy feels a little tired”. But I put that down to a busy day because we had been up since bright and early,’ she says.
‘I woke in the middle of the night on Saturday and I went to take a deep breath and my chest felt like it had been bruised. Any part of my upper body and abdomen was sore to touch on the outside and internally sore too.’
The following morning she still didn’t feel well but got herself and James ready for the birthday party. ‘We got on the train. I kept putting my head down to go asleep and then Mam rang and I said, “I’m turning around.”’
By the time she got back to the apartment, Alison had a fever. ‘James was talking to me and I said, “I’m going to lie down”. Then my speech became all jumbled. James saw I was getting weak and he rang my friend Karen and said, “Mummy is not speaking properly”. She immediately called a doctor.’
The previous evening Alison had had trouble figuring out how to open the door for a pizza delivery – but little James somehow managed to let the doctor in.
‘It’s like Fort Knox getting in so I don’t know how he did it! The doctor came up and took my blood pressure. He said, “No way it could be this low”. That’s when I lost consciousness. I could hear the doctor saying, “The ambulance is on the way, please stay with us”. He said to James, “Keep speaking to your Mummy”. James was super calm.’
The little boy travelled with his mum in the ambulance to nearby Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. ‘This was the beginning of ten days of bizarre undertakings. I was in so much pain they thought it was a blood clot. They also thought it could be pneumonia. A CT scan showed one of the discs in my back has come out. I was in a car crash years ago and I don’t know if it’s as a result of that. I was in such unbearable pain everywhere, I actually said to a friend, “I would have ten children with no epidural after this!” To take a deep breath I felt like someone was sitting on my chest. Then a doctor came back in to diagnose me with COPD, which is a lung disease. He said that to me in front of my mum and James in the room and I was bawling. He said, “You must know what it is?” I said to him, “I’m really sorry but this just came on in the middle of the night, I haven’t smoked in years. Surely I would have had some symptoms over the years?” Then he discharged me after 24 hours.’
Alison was due to fly home to Dublin two days later on the Tuesday, but feeling increasingly unwell – and in need of a second opinion – she went to London Bridge private hospital instead where they did not agree with the COPD diagnosis.
‘Dr Coker said I could have picked up a virus on the plane even though it was a short flight. Sometimes you just don’t know, it could have been something I
picked up on the Tube. She said, “Stop trying to find fault with yourself on this. These things just happen.”’
Alison had to stay on in London for an extra week, which she spent both in hospital and recuperating at her aunt’s house until her lung functioning and blood pressure stabilised enough for doctors to permit her to travel. Her mother Margaret had taken James home in the meantime.
When Alison finally got home on August 28, she was just in the nick of time to wave him off as he began second class in his new school in Greystones, Co Wicklow. Mother and son have moved to a large Victorian home in the well-heeled town where Alison holds meditation classes in her roomy conservatory overlooking a mature garden.
She is feeling ‘much better’ now and though still sounding shocked at her collapse, concedes: ‘I suppose I am tired. When we have those expectations for ourselves, that’s when we find it difficult to cope. I am raising a child on my own, I have my own business, we moved house, I’m studying transatlantic [neuroscience and mindfulness in the Semel Institute at the University of California]. It’s a lot. I need to slow down a bit in the coming months.’
With this in mind, she has made some significant changes. ‘James is not going to afterschool now. That’s a big decision,’ she agrees. ‘After what happened he needs me to reassure him. I need to give him a sense of safety again. As a parent, I have the responsibility to show him that all is good in the world.
‘I’m self-employed but I’ll figure it out,’ she adds, of how she will juggle minding James in the afternoons with maintaining her workload.
Alison encourages parents to have a conversation with their children about what to do in case of emergency.
‘None of us ever thinks this could happen to us. People say, “I don’t want to be scaring my kids”. But how scared would they be not knowing what to do if anything happens? Write your address somewhere they can get it. Tell them, “If anything ever happens, dial 999 and read out our address.”’
Every cloud has a silver lining, and Alison’s experience has underscored her priorities in life. ‘Anything like this makes us reevaluate what’s important and we all need to do that every once in a while. What’s important is health, family and friends. One thing I’ve learned is the power of community. I just moved to Greystones and the mums don’t even know me that well. One of the mums told the other mums, and they went off and got James’s school books, his stationery. They got in touch asking, “What can we do to help you? I’ll pick him up and drop him home every day so you can rest...” Just incredible support.’
Alison will have follow-up medical care in Dublin and is working with a nutritionist on eating as well as possible. ‘Even coaches need coaches,’ she says.
After spending time with his granny while his mum recuperated in London, James is now ‘just happy to have me home. I’m going to have to do a lot of reassurance because he’s saying things now like, “I don’t want to go to school and leave you on your own”. There’s going to be apprehension. I will talk everything through with him in an appropriate way for a child. We always talk about his feelings, and I tell him it’s okay to be scared, it’s normal.’
Alison is looking forward to spending more time with James while she eases off the pedal workwise. ‘I’ll go and pick him up from school and he’s got different things he wants to do in the afternoons. When we were in the hospital, the doctors and the ambulance men said he’s a hero. He said, “I didn’t really do anything”. I said, “You took it upon yourself to ring Karen and that makes you a hero.” He’s an amazing kid, he has never given me an ounce of trouble.’
But like any seven-year-old worth his salt, James intends to milk his moment of glory as much as possible.
‘I’ve promised him pizza tonight,’ laughs Alison. ‘I’m getting my arm twisted all over the place.’
VISIT alisoncanavan.com for details on the Full 360 events