WATER WORKS
Amazing way to deal with divorce
A Harrietsham woman who was in turmoil when her husband suddenly left her is to take on a kayak challenge to raise £10,000 for the charity that helped turn her life around.
Susie Chassagne, 40, credits the Blackthorn Trust with helping her through choppy waters since the shock divorce 18 months ago, and now is looking to repay the favour by asking people to sponsor her when she goes whitewater kayaking through the French Alps in July.
The Barming charity helps people to transform their lives during periods of crisis – something Ms Chassagne found herself in when she was made “virtually homeless” overnight, alone and vulnerable in an unfamiliar town.
“It was the emotional equivalent of having a car crash at 120mph,” she said.
“We met in July 2013, were married in September 2015 and by the following June it was all off.
“The life I thought I was going to have – being married, having a family – suddenly wasn’t going to happen.”
The charity in St Andrews Road, Barming, where she works in events marketing, helped provide her with support following the split, but Ms Chassagne felt she needed an adrenaline-fuelled new hobby to fully escape her woes. After resolving to ‘say yes’ to more opportunities, she decided kayaking was the way to achieve that. “I had to scurry around and build a life for myself rather quickly,” she said.
“I knew I needed my mind focused so booked myself on a course and it was like everything melted away.
“When you’re trying to stay upright, preserving your own life, it’s the perfect release.”
Ms Chassagne, a beginner on the water, is training three times a week to prepare for her adventure this summer – the “finale” to her whirlwind emotional journey.
She said: “I’m really hopeful local businesses and the community will get on board. My life was crumbling around me, and if it wasn’t for the Blackthorn Trust, I don’t know where I would be.” Blackthorn Trust offers medical care, specialist therapies and rehabilitation through work placements in its garden. To donate, visit Ms Chassagne’s GoFundMe page at tinyurl.com/ KMsusie.