My favourite mantra is: Every day you are above ground is a good day. Superficial things don’t matter
My lifestyle and positive thinking is what saved me. In that situation it was either sink or swim
was of dying. A life lived in fear would be a half-life and I didn’t want that any more.”
Sally describes finding out that she in fact didn’t have an aneurysm as the ‘lifting of a prison sentence’.
She says: “I decided I would take control of my life, push the boundaries and move forward.
“Realising how lucky I was to still be alive, I resolved to never, ever, give up breathing, and threw myself into thinking positively, staying fit and eating healthily, so that I could be there for my children.
“The healthy lifestyle I’d led before had been down to pure vanity. I was prone to putting on weight and had to be careful to eat well and exercise to maintain a healthy weight. Had I not led such a healthy lifestyle I wouldn’t have survived. “This time it was about survival. It became apparent that every single mouthful had the ability to heal me or harm me. It’s the same for everyone.”
For 12 years Sally’s optimism and steely determination shone through – with the support of her cameraman husband, now 56 – and she credited her diet and positive mindset for keeping her alive. But in 2016 her worst fears came true when she suffered a fourth – and then a fifth – heart attack within one week in November. “I honestly didn’t think it would happen again,” says Sally. “After the fifth I was at my lowest point physically and emotionally. When I woke each day after that my first thought was, ‘I’m still alive ’, the second was, ‘Will today be the day that I die?’
“Some days were harder than others, it’s about baby steps. The human brain is clever, but not so clever it can feel two emotions at once.
“I’d get up struggling with negative thoughts and find one thing I was happy for that day, and share it.
“I realised my survival depended on me being the best version of myself that I could.
“It previously took me about four years to teach myself how to genuinely feel happy and control what I was feeling so I drew on that experience again.”
Sally began sharing her journey through videos for her Facebook followers, laying bare her thoughts and feelings and sharing coping mechanisms such as chanting mantras to stay positive.
They drew over 1.8 millions views during her first year and she’s now in her third. Thanks to that success Sally launched the Being The Best You support programme.
Sally says: “The first 365 days I was doing for selfish reasons – to give me a reason to get up in the morning.
“People were sending me messages of support and telling me the mantras helped them overcome their own struggles.
“People need to be shown kindness and need help battling their own struggles. That positivity made a real difference.
“Some days I was in make-up being bubbly, sometimes I would be in bed looking dreadful. I’d have a bad day, but I would say, ‘I’m going to rest and sleep and tomorrow I will feel better’.
“My favourite mantra is ‘every day above ground is a good day’ because it helps you realise the superficial things don’t matter.
“I’ve helped people who self-harm, women who want to give up alcohol and even a widowed recluse.
“Kindness isn’t sexy, but it’s the most important thing we can do to make sure we’re living the best life we can. I genuinely live a very, very happy life now.”