#so by the by today i bumped into the physiotherapist and he told me some exercises i should be doing and oooooh boy i dont want to do them

[evadingreallife]

Me: owwwwie my foot hurtsssss

The physiotherapist: ok now move it dumbass

[fishylife]

Street Dance of China, Season 4, Episode 12, Part 2

- HB played a game where they were testing how well they knew each other. Also the entire look of this (the location, the clothes) gives me boyband vibes lol.

- They are both really good at drawing?!

- Cat alert

- They said they grew close because they were both really into Dragonball

- HB’s performance had two parts. One part was I think supposed to be a throwback to one of their older performances, which just includes a drum beat. The second part was danced to a more pop-ish song. I will say, I didn’t have high expectations for HB. I expected them to just do a typical locking performance, and the fact that they even stepped a little outside of their box already made me like this performance more than I probably would have. At first, I was wondering whether the entire performance would just be to the drum beat, in which case, I would have been disappointed because that’s just...kind of lazy. And yeah, like I said, the fact that they’re dancing to a different style of music is already a surprise for me lol (because from what I’ve seen from the lockers on this show, they are often set in their ways). Though their dance moves themselves were still very typical locking movies, at least they committed to the feel of the music, and moved away from that funk feel and towards this more pop feel.

- Gogo Brothers were bumped off by Hilty & Bosch

- Room tour XD

- He was video calling his mom. He speaks to her in French! Anyway, he was you got me into dancing, and Mom was like “no, you did everything because you love dance!” etc. And she told him she was proud of him :3

- I thought this was a fun performance. I loved the futuristic vibes, but it’s like a 2000s interpretation of the future which is what makes it so fun.

- Han Geng said he wanted to take popping lessons with Poppin’C and he was like but please just don’t charge too much X3

- Sigh, Yixing’s team is catching no breaks today. Qiao Zhi had the lowest score so we are about to see who gets booted.

- The host asked Yixing if he had anything to say since one of Poppin’C or Qiao Zhi were going to get eliminated, and also because Huang Xiao was going up next. And Yixing was like “honestly it’s not that serious I’m really just treating this like a game it’s chill.” This nerd ended by being like “there is no elimination in real life, you just change your stage.”

- Huang Bo was like “Yixing is all grown up!”

- Poppin’C was eliminated :(

- So over the past few weeks I’ve come to learn that Huang Xiao is a little dramatic but like, it’s cute. Here he is screaming because he’s finally going to watch a performance with the music.

- Here he is getting some physiotherapy. His physiotherapist said that he does have a very serious injury in his shoulder :(

- Does he have an interest in music?

- Huang Xiao’s performance was very aesthetically pleasing, which sounds generic, but basically I was very comfortable while watching the entire performance. I think the thing about Huang Xiao being a choreographer is that he has a lot of experience choreographing stuff, so this performance of his doesn’t necessarily need to be a personal one, which is nice. Most of the other performances here are personal statements, but this one was probably comfortable because there wasn’t that personal attachment. I can just view this as a piece of entertainment, rather than trying to discern what this says about Huang Xiao as a person. Huang Xiao said that he just really liked this song, so I think this performance was more about his interpretation of this song, rather than him finding a piece of music to suit a personal statement.

- There were 20 background dancers, who were all from Hello Dance, which is the dance crew that danced with Yixing in his Feitian dance practice video :3 Anyway, I really like the face decorations the ladies have!! (Reminds me of X-Baekhyun’s face chain lol)

- Sigh, as we know, Qiao Zhi was the dancer with the lowest score before

- Okay what the heck? Huang Xiao only got 87 points?? Ok, I know why this performance wasn’t popular, but I don’t think it’s fair :/ Like I said before, this performance wasn’t a personal statement, but just a project, so I think that’s why it wasn’t as popular. In addition, Huang Xiao’s strength is in choreography and not necessarily as a performer, so that may be why people weren’t impressed with him specifically. The spotlight on him wasn’t as strong, so maybe he didn’t leave as strong of an impression. But as a performance, I thought it was great! It had some choreography that was A LOT more creative than some of the other performances we’ve seen so far. Dammit. #justiceforhuangxiao

- You cutie, you deserved better v.v Of course, he was very positive about everything v.v Sigh. Baby.

- Yixing said that Huang Xiao was his choreographer for Feitian X3 So he was like “this is a choreographer I really love.” And as usual, he was like “this is just a game” XD Yixing also calls Huang Xiao “Xiao,” which is interesting.

- Also what a tiny

- Chunlin got a visit from Mom

- Awkward encouraging video from aunts and uncles lol

- Chunlin’s mom visited him while at the studio and all of the other dancers were like “Hello, Auntie~~~” She bought apples for them, it was cute haha.

- Like Huang Xiao’s performance, I thought Li Chunlin’s performance was pretty aesthetically pleasing too, though in a different way. To start things off, there was a very loose TV theme, about Chunlin getting sucked into the TV and joining the TV people in dancing. After he got sucked into the TV, like Huang Xiao’s performance, I felt that his performance was more of an interpretation of the song. What’s also different is that I felt that the performance was more “popular” dance than street dance, so I don’t know how that will fare with the audience voters. In any case, I liked it. The choreography was very fun to watch, and Chunlin got a good part of the spotlight.

- Demonstrating hip rolls to the crowd

- The white shirt he was wearing was Yixing’s gift earlier in the show. Chunlin also said that he was using a skincare product that Henry had gifted him.

- Chunlin was eliminated. He had only four fewer votes than Qiao Zhi.

- Why is Jackson dressed like that OTL

- Ooh, the banners for all of the captains on this show ever. I’m surprised they kept Show Luo’s considering he’s sort of cancelled lol. But also......Zitao’s banner....and Yixing’s banner.....in the same frame (can you tell I’m craving LayTao?).

- Our 8 finalists (technically 9, but HB count as one participant)

- You know, it just occurred to me that Jackson and Henry are in the same show. Can we get some shenanigans from them? We shall see.

- Jackson performed one of his songs

- Followed by a dance performance

- Big hug for the dancers

- Lmao Jackson was breathing so hard his voice broke during his interview. He said he hadn’t been dancing for a while and he’d only prepared this performance for two days, so he was super sore.

- Then we got a performance from Fu Longfei. I didn’t know him, so I looked him up. Apparently he was a Chinese member of a Chinese special unit of the kpop group Nu-est.

- The battle followed a tournament format, though the matchups do get reassigned each round. First matchups were Qiao Zhi vs. Bouboo, Ye Yin vs. Yuu-san of HB, San’er vs. Acky-san, and Yang Kai vs. Ibuki.

- Part way through the first battle, between Qiao Zhi and Bouboo, there were some technical difficulties :x

- There were six rounds for each matchup, and I think because there were so many rounds, they kind of blended together. Also don’t know if it’s just me, but I think because there were so many rounds, each round was shorter, so the amount of time each dancer had to do their part was shorter, so I think that’s why nothing really stood out to me. (Well, that, and the fact that I do prefer routine dances to battle dances if I’m being honest).

- Some Yixing being cute in ads again, to soothe the salt in my soul

- I’m going to be real honest with you. Because I was salty about the performances, I’ve been mostly checked out for the battles and haven’t been paying enough attention to have opinions about them. I’ve just been watching them passively. I was just too affected by some of the performance scoring.

- Anyway, the winner of SDC season 4 was Ye Yin, who was also the winner of season 2.

- I’m so sorry that this episode ended on such a low note. I was just kind of disappointed with a lot of the results in the performances and it made me lose enthusiasm with the battles because the results didn’t make sense to me.

- That being said, the first eleven episodes of this show were still spectacular and extremely fun. I got a lot of joy out of them.

- Would I watch the next season of this show? I’d probably only watch if Yixing was a captain again. I couldn’t tell you why, it’s just what my gut feeling tells me lol.

[llamasarecoolerthanyou]

Summer love – Stephan Leyhe & Andreas Wellinger

I can’t believe I’m posting my first Lellinger fanfiction. But after enjoying all the amazing stories from @loving-sports (which everyone should read ❤️ ), I got inspired to try writing one myself. I hope it’s not too bad. 😝  

! I changed their sport careers to make the plot work. Stephan and Markus are in the A-team, Andi and Karl in the B-team.

Summer love – Stephan Leyhe & Andreas Wellinger

Andreas felt pretty lucky. Even though he was only on the B-team, this year he was flying to Spain for the pre-season camp.

Usually, only the A-team got to go abroad to prepare for the next year’s competitions. The rest spent weeks in a hardly posh hotel in a German country where nothing ever happened. After the training sessions, your free time activities were limited to reading, movies or cards if your teammates were feeling adventurous. Which wasn’t as often as one might think.

Suffice it to say that the Bavarian often had to go as far as bribery in order not to die of boredom. His pride and the sneaked-in chocolate stash had suffered. It was ridiculous how utterly boring his friends were.

That’s why he literally jumped from joy upon hearing the news. His head coach was going to miss this year’s camp, and as they were supposed to be leaving in two days there was only one option. The B-team was going to be temporarily supervised by Werner Schuster.

It was most likely only a formality and their assistant coach was going to be running everything, but it didn’t change the fact that Schuster and his boys were going to Spain. Therefore Andreas Wellinger, an eighteen-year-old ski jumper from Rupholding, was going to finally live a little.

Carelessly throwing his clothes into the suitcase, he was imagining all the afternoon surfing that awaited him and hoping the gossip about the famous parties thrown by the star team was true. After all, there was no way he was wasting another summer playing Schafkopf.

Two months later

Okay, so the late night parties turned out to be a total bogus. The A-team, though more eager to chat or go out after the gym, didn’t differ that much from his own teammates.

Still, Andi couldn’t care less if they had watched soap operas all day. He didn’t plan to spend any more time with them than it took to say hello. No, all his free time was reserved for one person. Stephan Leyhe, a twenty-one-year-old Hessian, who was still waiting for his first big success in the World Cup.

Their first meeting was a total cliché.

The B-team has just arrived and was finishing checking in at the reception when the more accomplished sportsmen showed up. Only half-listening to his roommate Karl, as the two walked to the elevator, Andreas was too busy posting his latest selfie on Instagram to notice the man coming from the opposite direction. Until they bumped into each other and his phone fell out of his hands.

“I’m sorry, I got lost in thought,” he heard someone say as he bent down to pick it up.

“It’s all fine, I should have watched where I was…“ he started to answer before lifting his head to find a pair of brown eyes, belonging to a handsome man, staring straight at him. Only after noticing a growing smirk on the older one’s face did he snap out of it with a blush and finished his sentence. “…going.”

“Stephan,” introduced himself the brunette and extended his hand.

“Andi,” responded Andreas, shaking his hand and feeling mortified when his voice came out much higher than normal.

Suddenly, they heard someone yelling: “Stephan! Hurry up or I’m leaving and good luck finding our room.”

“I better go, I wouldn’t put it past Markus to leave me stranded here. It was nice to meet you. Sorry again for running into you,” said Stephan with a grin and started to walk towards his waiting roommate.  

Andreas continued to stare stupidly after him until he heard his friend laughing.

“Man, you should have seen yourself. Somebody has a crush!” teased Karl.

“Shut up,” spat out the blond grabbing his suitcase and setting off towards the elevator, not waiting for his teammate.

So, it wasn’t by any means the smoothest introduction he could imagine. Fortunately, he was soon given the opportunity to make a better impression.

After spending the evening unpacking and listening to Geiger’s further mocking, Andreas decided to go to bed early. Having spent the night dreaming about a certain ski jumper with the sweetest smile in the world, he woke up an hour before the alarm. He knew he wasn’t going to fall back asleep and decided to get dressed and head to breakfast.

Having grabbed something to eat, he sat down at an empty table. This early the place was almost deserted with the exception of the hotel staff and an older couple in the corner.

A few minutes later, he was startled from his thoughts by the very person he has been daydreaming about.

“Mind if I sit here?” asked someone stopping by his table.

Andreas looked up from his plate and saw the guy from yesterday staring at him with a friendly grin.

“Go ahead,” he replied quickly.

Muttering “thanks”, Stephan took the place opposite him and began to eat his sandwich.

“So, how are you? Excited to start the season?” asked the older one after a moment of silence.

Andi was a little surprised that the man, who was basically a stranger, decided to join him and wanted to talk. It was far more common for the jumpers from the A and B teams to keep to themselves during the competitions or the rare combined trainings.

On the other hand, the only other option was sitting alone. He silently thanked Karl for annoying him enough to make him go to sleep early yesterday.    

“Of course but mainly I’m thrilled to be here. There’s really no comparison to our usual location.”

“Yeah, I remember it all too well,” chuckled the brunette. “Have you just joined your team? I’m sure I would have remembered seeing you during a competition.”

Andreas felt his face turn red for the second time since arriving in Spain. He wondered why his body was betraying him all of a sudden. All the blushing and nerves, when he was usually the loudest person in the room making others feel intimidated not the other way around.

“It’s my second season on the B-team but last year I got injured before I had the chance to earn a spot in a World Cup competition.”

“I’m sorry, that’s always tough. I’m sure you’ll have better luck this year.”

“I hope so. I’m so over the kids' team.”

“Come on now, you’ve got time. How old are you? Seventeen?” asked Stephan laughing.

“Eighteen,” mumbled Andi reluctantly. Did he have to look so young? There goes any chance he had with the brunette.

“Sorry, my mistake,” said ironically Leyhe, sending him a smile to show that he’s joking. “Ok, tell me if Muller is still the physiotherapist…”

When the others started to gather in the room, Andreas looked at his watch and was surprised to see that they have been talking for over an hour. It didn’t matter that they had just met or that Stephan was a little older. They hadn’t brought up any heavy topics, but Andi felt that he could tell him anything and not be judged or mocked.

In the following eight weeks you could rarely see one without the other. As soon as their respective trainings were over, they would meet up and spend their free time together much to the annoyance of their other friends.

Most often they would stroll along the beach, sharing stories and secrets. They talked some more about Andi’s injury and his fear of missing out on a successful career because of the forced break. Stephan admitted to feeling frustrated with his slow progress and insecure about his position on the team during the upcoming World Championships.

Sometimes they didn’t say a word and just enjoyed each other’s company. When Stephan was in a good mood, he would let his new friend teach him surfing despite being pretty terrible at it.  

Today was their last day together. Tomorrow the B-team was going to travel home while the others stayed on for another week.

Andreas had finished a few hours earlier than usual at the gym, their coach giving them some time to pack, and was now waiting for his friend in his room.

He tried not to think about the inevitably approaching moment when they will have to say goodbye. At last he had to admit, at least to himself, what he had denied all this time. He has fallen for Stephan. There was no other way to explain his feelings lately.

He wanted to spend every possible moment with his older friend and missed him like crazy on the rare occasions when they went out with their separate teams. His heart was slowly breaking at the thought that after today they may go back to being strangers, sporadically exchanging hellos when passing each other during the competitions.

Of course, there are phone calls and e-mails. They will probably meet at some point during the winter if his results are good enough to start in the World Cup. But how often do long distance relationships work out?

And it wasn’t even a romantic one, just a friendship. As much as he felt like they have known each other for years, the truth was they had met two months ago. Andi felt deep inside that something was ending forever.

Anyhow, his feelings for Stephan were going to stay a secret. He couldn’t imagine telling him. He knew that the brunette, despite his kindness and compassion, didn’t see in him a potential partner but rather a kid brother.

Shaking off his wistful thoughts, he decided to focus on enjoying the evening and after quickly choosing an outfit went to the bathroom to prepare.

Soon they were sitting in a café, eating ice-cream and laughing after Stephan told him about Markus’s another crazy idea. It was almost midnight when they finally got back to the hotel after taking a final walk on the beach.

“I’m gonna miss you,” whispered Andreas, hoping that in these simple words his friend will hear everything he wasn’t ready to say.

They were standing in front of his room, quietly saying their goodbyes so as not to wake up Karl. The blonde tried hard not to cry, not wanting to look like a child again.

“I’m going to miss you too, Andi,” said Stephan and cupped Andi’s face in his hands, pulling the younger one closer and kissing him hard.

Andreas returned the kiss and felt a few tears escape his eyes. They stayed locked together for what felt like hours. Finally, Stephan slowly broke the kiss and wiped the tears from his face.

Not saying anything else, the older man took a step back and left with a sad smile.

Andi entered his room, not bothering to try and stop the tears. All he wanted was to hide under the covers and cry, but he quickly put on his pajamas to avoid any questions from Karl in the morning. He spent the next few hours staring at the ceiling, trying not to think about what happened.

He must have fallen asleep sometime during the night because the next thing he heard was his roommate, yelling at him to get up as they were leaving in half an hour. Feeling numb he got dressed, finished packing and before long they were on the bus waiting for everyone to turn up.

Having chosen a seat with a view of the hotel, he spent the minutes before their departure staring at the main entrance but the one person he wanted to see was nowhere to be found.

                                                            ***

Sequel?

[nhlhoser]

On The Rocks - 18

Part 17  Masterlist

word count:  3042

The usual minor swearing that comes with hockey

  Dinner ended up being at Aria a high-end Italian restaurant with Stephanie and Matt Martins better half model girlfriend Sydney. 1000 watt smile, beautiful long blonde hair, and hilarious. We didn't talk about hockey until the topic of Mitch's lip came up and Sydney explained that Matt has been having a hard time today himself, zoning out when he was pouring coffee causing the liquid to over flow and burn his hand.

"I have a good feeling about tonight," Sydney said firmly taking a large sip from her red wine, jealous as I sip my lime water because I have a long night of work still ahead of me.

"God, I hope you're right," Steph taking a needed gulp of her white wine.

"We can only hope," I agreed not knowing if I could handle the level of emotions if they lose tonight, the tension today is any indication. "Freddie, Mo, and Will all came to me about tonight's game. They're really scared," I leave out the interaction with Auston because it seemed wrong felt wrong to say anything for some reason.

Scanning over the Menu, I decide on Gnocchi Dish and a salad to start. Growing up in a household where Italian was spoken more than English, I barely notice that the menu was probably hard to understand for the rest of the table until Steph spoke up.

"What the hell is Antipasti?" both blondes looking confused.

"It's just dishes that aren't pasta. You want to look under Paste or Secondi those are Main dishes," I said casually my eyes not leaving the menu.

"You understand this gibberish?" Came Stephanie's slightly surprised response.

"Uhm yeah- I am Italian," I said slowly looking up to met Steph's wide eyes before her face morphs into one of confusion again.

"Since when?" She asked dumbly and visible face palming herself as the words left her mouth, Sydney finding the situation amusing as her lips pulled into a tiny smile as her shoulder shaking with laughter.

"About birth, I think as my parents are Italian. I thought you could kinda tell, you know olive skins and dark hair," I teased sipping my water as her eyes scan over my face taking in my features with a scowl.

I thought it was obvious that I was at least European.

"Man, I don't know much about you Do I?" She frowned at her wine making me frown.

"I'm a private person, Steph. It's not your fault," I offered, she nodded before continuing on trying to read the menu before again realizing she doesn't speak the language and groaning.

"I don't like mushrooms, what should I get?"

We ended up all ordering a pasta dish, which we all devoured quite un-lady like but we couldn't care because we were hungry and having a good time. Stephanie and Sydney take turns sharing the embarrassing tales that are their boyfriends and the things they do that would totally get them chirped within an inch of their lives if any of the guys heard.

We take dessert to go because we were running out of time but also we stuffed with carbie goodness. Sydney stole my phone and insisted we had to hang out more as she entered her number into my phone with slight difficulty from a bit too much wine for this early in the day when the night hasn't started yet but she had claimed if she was going to remain sane during the game she had to start now, which is quite understandable.

Parting ways as the other two girls head to one of the other WAGs places that are around the corner for some pre-drinking before the game. I drive the 15 minutes home, change and throw my dessert into the back of the fridge before heading back to the ACC to get ready for the night.

The medical room is empty apart from a couple physiotherapist checking over the medical supplies and preparing the packs for the bench tonight, Sparing a couple of greets before heading into the administrative office to work on some paperwork, recording who I've treated today and why.

When players start coming in, the atmosphere immediately shifts into a severe game mode. Quickly saving my work to the hard drive before logging off before heading out into the medical area where Leo Komarov, Nazem Kadri, and Nikita Zaitsev sit on the tables getting their ankles and wrist taped by the staff. Zaits and Leo speaking in a language I can only guess is Russian. Kadri looking bored as he stares intently as the staff tapes his left wrist with laser precision. There's heavy bass music coming from the actual locker room and the usual commotion of men getting ready.

  Spending about a half hour helping the therapist tape and massaging out tensions, Paul came around handing me a Leafs hat with a wink before continuing with players that came in. Setting the hat with my wind break in the staff area quickly before getting back to taping.

 "It's not serious, I'm just a little sore," A familiar grumpy looking Auston is being pushed into the room by an equally grumpy looking Matt Martin. Both in their under armor compression tops loose shorts with compression leggings under.

"Well, We have the resources to make you not sore. So shut the fuck up," Matt pushed the rookie further through the door, searching the room for someone and when his eyes land on me coming out of the staff area his face breaks in relief.

"Amelia! Talk some sense into this boy," He practically growled as Auston looks bashful not making eye contact.

"I got it from here Marty, Go terrorize Mitch or something," I shooed the larger man who leaves as I approach Auston, stopping three feet in front with my arms crossed my chest.

"Is it your back, again?" I gained Auston's attention.

"Your face," Is his only response making me roll my eyes.

"Box fell on my face, Now your back," I insisted it

Auston was unbreaking in our stare down, eyes steady and body language strong.

"Fine, you don't have to say anything. I can find you sore spot without you telling me," I sigh with a shrug. Auston is unmoving as I circle to his back taking his the mountain of muscle through the skin tight fabric. Panning my eyes from his neck to his hips (by default his bum). Instantly I can see the way he's standing his left lower side sore by the fact his left hip is pulled higher than his right.

Rolling my eyes at this guys stubbornness, I carefully lay my the palm of my hand in his lower back above his hip. Feeling the muscle tense followed by a wince so quick I almost missed it, there's a tiny beginning of a knot but it's deep.

With no warning, I dig the heel of my palm into the bundle of offending muscle and push. Auston gasps as I flex my hand and adjust my hand to now my fingers working out the tension until I feel the muscle release.

Stepping away, I circle back to his front with a frown and a glare.

"I'm aware that hurt Auston. We are here for a reason, you stay here well I get A535 for that," Forcefully pushing him to sit on the table closest giving him a pointed look. Darting to the supply cabinets, searching the shelves for the cream.

 Returning the table, my mouth dry's seeing as Auston took off his shirt in the little time I was gone, pausing in step briefly regaining composure. You are a professional-ACT LIKE ONE, AMELIA.

"It'll be easier if you lay down, " He wordlessly moves to a laying position now listening to suggestions. Uncapping and applying probably more than need amount of the cream directly to his lower back. Tossing the bottle on to a table I began rubbing the Goop around the offending area and his upper back but keeping the pressure on his lower back.

"Okay, that should do it," I pulled away 5 minutes later. My hands feeling gross because of heating and cooling properties. "Now go kick some Crosby ass," I teased as Auston sat up pulling his shirt on shaking his head.

"I'll try," with a wink and he leaves to finish getting ready.

After washing the cream from my hands, I spend the time until I have to go into the tunnel cleaning the medical room and spinning on an office chair. Paul eventually came in with a radio and ear piece for me before disappearing again, a sign I need get my act together. Pulling on the windbreaker, adjusting my ponytail before slipping the hat on, sticking the ear piece in and clip the radio to my belt.

  The music gets louder the closer it is until warm up, the air is thick with nerves and static excitement. Some of the guys are stoic others are non-stop movement and energy (Mitch). The energy is sure enough to give anyone goosebumps but having seen some of the work gives me crazy jitters myself.

  Coming into the commotion after Babcock does his speech and lines, he stands back as the guys start gathering the rest of their equipment on their body before starting to file towards the sliding doors. Morgan came up to me doing the random hand shake from last night before pausing about to bop my nose deciding that might not be the best idea.

"Kick some ass," I quipped as he wattles away with a laugh and a thumbs up. Freddie comes over and bonks the rim of my hat with a subtle wink.

"Amelia, have you met the newest 'baby leaf'," Connor brown come over with William rolling his eye at the term 'baby leaf'. They make way for a fresh face Kasperi.

"TOLD YOU," I cheered as a huge grin spreads across his face.  The blue of his jersey and helmet bringing out the blue in his eyes like to does with William and Mitch (and half the team).   Fist bumping before he's whisked away by some vets claiming to show him the way.

"Amelia, Can you grab the sticks? They were supposed to be out already." The equipment manager pleaded his hair a mess.

"Yeah," I smiled.

"I'll get one of the other staff to help, you're just the first person I saw," he breathed. I shook my head explaining I would require help, he nodded before running off to stress about something else.

Wondering the side door to the ice the sticks lay against the door waiting. There are two bundles as each player have multiple.

It takes two trips to get both bundles to the bench, I can tell why he had said he'd find someone to help as each bundle was quite heavy but I like to lift heavy things. 

There's a collective holy shit as the Leafs get the first goal of the game but then Kessel matches with his own for the penguins.  The air leaves the entire building when Freddie goes down, there are orders being blasted through the radio as soon as he comes to the bench and down the tunnel.  Mac swears and fumbles a fit getting up as an assistant brings him his mask and his stick and pat his back.

"You got this Big Mac," I chirp when he's on the ice turned to the bench getting a drink of water. He laughs and squirts the water at me, I duck to the side. The laughter lasts a couple seconds before it's serious time again and I'm back to jumping and reacting to everything happening on the ice but keeping my mouth shut.

There are seconds left in the second when Auston is involved in a knee to knee collision and "she drops. The entire bench starts swearing and cursing the opponent.

"Get up, get up," I chant under quietly willing the 6'3" center to get up -he does after what seems like minutes but was only seconds. His face gives away that he's in pain as he skates off and straight down the tunnel.

Pissed.

"Amelia, Matthews is saying you know what to do," was the first thing through the radio seconds later, the players haven't even cleared the cleared the bench yet.

"He knows I'm not a doctor, right?" I radioed back but still made my way into the locker room after the players, wasting no time getting to the medical room.

Auston's still taking off his gear, he adds a majority of it off already. I stood there blank face- wondering if this guy was serious right now?

"I'm not a doctor, Auston" I insisted glaring at the stupid teenage hockey player. The team doctor is standing over him with a similarly concerned glare.

Auston's face is a mix of uncomfortable pain and protest- grumpy. He opens his mouth but closes it when my glare deepened.

"It's just my my back, the same spot from earlier,"

"I'm not touching you until the doctor says it's just that,"  I declare challenging him to object my voice firm. He gives in nodding and the doctor begins his examination. My eyes still trained on Auston with a mighty glare.

"Why are you glaring at me now?"  A whine in his voice as his posture is slouched over like a child.

" 'cause you're an idiot, idiot,"  Crossing my arm and rolling my eyes like the adult I really am.

"Well it seems it's just what he said unless he's hiding something," The doctor pointed into Auston's knee trying to gage a reaction but nothing so the doctor dismisses himself.

"See, told you,"  Auston's tone flat but teasing.

"I need alcohol whips, tape and bio freeze,"

"And gloves,"

After applying a thick coat of bio freeze and a lot of pressure on the trouble spot, I let the Bio freeze seep into his skin and into his muscle before wiping away the excess cream with an alcohol wipe then getting started on taping the area for support.

In the end, I felt like I was sending an arts n craft project onto the ice with the amount of tape I used, I was praying for it to at least half for the period. The game is tied at 2 and the mood was still high and so was the dwindling energy.

It was Gardiner that broke the tie- not in the way we need.

Own goal.

The mood depleted instantly but luckily it was still relatively early in the period but that didn't stop the swearing and yelling from both benches. Auston was like a hellhound on the ice, he was rushing the net but they wouldn't go in.

"Fuck," I swore again when another brilliant play didn't work.  The fourth line and Auston were in a rush, the defense was crowding him when he passed back to Hunwick who with quick hands flicked to Kasperi and it was in the net the next.

Tie game

6:30 Minutes left

The building erupted in deafening cheers, I was jumping on a security guard in the tunnel not caring. The line did their fist bumps down the bench and the lines reset on the ice, on with play with a surge of adrenaline pushing them fast than Pittsburgh.

3 minutes late Connor Brown scored, deflecting the puck from Gardiners shot into the back of the net behind Fleury. The crowd somehow got even louder than I thought could be humanly possible. Paul was cheering and swearing into the radio.

4-3

2:30 minutes left

  A flame was lit under both team, Toronto working insanely hard to maintain the lead as Pittsburgh tried to take it, with multiple great plays but even better moves from Curtis McElhinney shutting even the great Sidney Crosby. 

Auston solidified the win with an empty netter down the ice for his 40th goal of the season.

5-3

3.4 Seconds left

THEY DID IT.

THEY WON.

Getting back to the medical room is tricky because of the all the media in the hall and celebration of the Leafs in the locker room. Getting in its void of life but still a mess but knowing how things go it's only going to get worse because the real treatments start after media.

When media left it got busy with many bodies because there is still a game to play tomorrow against the blue jackets, lucky I was in one of the private room to do treatments but not so lucky because some have yet to shower. As soon as I finished with Mitch I sent his ass to the showers 'cause he smelt so bad, then to the contrast pool for his legs-most players is in the hot tubs or contrast pool (extremely cold water). Leo is swearing in multiple languages as he sinks into an ice bath.

"Nice hat,"  Auston's voice startled me into the cabinet I am currently standing in front of arranging the blankets. Spinning around my hand over my pounding heart, Auston Stands in front of the closed door to the small room on the other side of the massage table looking- bashful.

"I owe you an apology but also a huge thank you,"  Running his hands through his hair nervously with the beginnings of a smile gracing his lips. I raised a brow at him, my head slightly tilted in confusion.

"I apologize for my stubbornness and for the position I put you in with Dr. Bettle but I was worried that I wasn't going to be cleared to play and I don't know what I would of down if that happened," His eyes close at the image of possibly not being able to play the rest of the most important game- my heart ached for him.  "Thank you for being really fucking good at your job, I-I honestly forgot there was even an injury well playing," He admitted with a shy smile.

"Anytime, Auston,"

"I'll be holding you to that," He winked.

"Please keep all emergencies during the day time," I teased but was being serious, taking a deep breath a rather ripe scent assaulted my nostrils.

"Oh my god, Auston! GO SHOWER,"

NEXT 

[multiverseofentertainment]

Blog Tour & Review: Heartless King by Maya Hughes

AVAILABLE NOW!

Title: Heartless King

Series: Kings of Rittenhouse #5

Author: Maya Hughes

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Cover Design: Najla Qamber Designs

Release Date: April 23, 2020

PURCHASE ON AMAZON

or Read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited

 ★ ABOUT HEARTLESS KING ★

Two blue lines. That means not pregnant, right? Right? Oh, sh*t.

Five years ago, Colm Frost asked me to marry him and I ran. I ran from my painful past too raw and fresh to escape. He was the only one who looked at me like I wasn’t broken and made me believe it. He made me feel it.

Now, he’s the hot, angry, hockey player on the mend.

I’m the physiotherapist who’s supposed to get him back on his feet.

I don’t think our night together was what his doctor prescribed, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t dreamt of him every time I close my eyes. I woke up beside him with my body still singing from the way he fanned the flames of my desire, but I couldn’t stay.

His lips on my neck. His hands wrapped around my waist. His impressive...ahem, touch leaving me breathless.

One moment of wild inhibition and it’s come back to bite me in the butt. Kind of like he did that night.

But a baby? Our night was supposed to be a one time thing, closing a door on the future I couldn’t handle.

Will this new bump in the road be everything we needed to find our forever?

Heartless King is a standalone friends to enemies to lovers, accidental pregnancy romance that brings all the laugh out loud, angsty feels!

  Heartless King is book five in the Kings of Rittenhouse series, but each of the books in the series can be read as standalones. This is the second book I have read in the series and I can attest that I had no trouble understanding the story. Reckless King is essentially a story of two individuals who have been through so much trauma and their journey on finally finding bliss. Colm is someone who has had to grow up fast and take on a lot of responsibilities from a young age due to the death of his parents for which he blames himself for. He messes up a lot but when he realizes his mistakes he accepts and apologizes for it as well. Imogen lost her parents as well as her fiancé, Preston to an accident and hasn’t grieved properly. They both have flaws of their own and go through some fantastic character development as well. The writing style is great as well and the plot is easy to follow. Colm and Imogen do spend a night together and she falls pregnant but what I love about this story was told is that the pregnancy is not the catalyst for their love which is why I love this book so much. The pregnancy trope is one that can be quite messy but Maya navigates this so well that I was in awe. The brotherhood between the guys was one of the best things in this book and I loved how they were all there for Colm during his trying times though I wish there was more scenes shown between the girls especially between Imogen and Avery. I will definitely be picking up the rest of the books in this series and would be watching out for Maya’s other books as well. ARC kindly provided by the author in exchange of an honest review.

★ EXCERPT FROM HEARTLESS KING ★

The way she bit her bottom lip while sitting in the back of the taxi sent my heart thundering against my ribs, trying to make a quick escape out the window. She was going through all those thoughts blinking like big caution signs on a dark night saying “No, don’t do this. It’s irresponsible. Here are twenty seven reasons this is a bad idea.” I didn’t want to be a bad idea or a mistake in her mind. She sure as hell wasn’t one in mine.

Tugging her toward me, nearly sitting on my lap, I sealed her parted lips mid-gasp with a kiss. Threading my fingers through her hair, I let my tongue dance along her lips, before delving inside.

The taxi driver cleared her throat. Only then did I remove my hand from under her skirt, tracing the edges of her panty line with the tips of my fingers.

I released my hold on her.

Now, her pink cheeked glances and slightly mussed hair were a hallmark to how far away I’d pushed those thoughts out of her mind. That along with her fingers intertwined with mine. Her pulse drumming against my palm.

She had no trouble putting her hands all over me during one of our sessions, but could still be shy about us exploring one another's bodies. An exploration I wouldn’t be finished with until I’d committed each inch of her to memory and could discover which spots made her gasp, whimper and moan.

Her gaze kept darting to the tent in my pants.

”At this point, I’d think you’d be used to it.”

With a hasty cash tip to the driver, I hustled her out of the taxi. 

We burst through the front door like a zombie hoard was following us through the streets.

With a mischievous grin over her shoulder, Imogen danced outside of my grasp.

Her laugh made me smile as she took off up the stairs, shedding clothes along the way. I gathered up each piece like the world's most tempting breadcrumbs.

A heel, then another.

Her soft black wrap.

The perfectly formed cups of her light gray bra hung on the railing at the top of the stairs.

I stood silently, trying to find her. She was a stripping Houdini.

Her dress, the one that fit her perfectly, in a heap on the floor.

My blood thrummed in my veins, pounding harder with each step. I’d been inside her less than an hour ago and already I was ravenous for her touch.

And that’s when I remembered. The bright blue, lacy fabric in my pocket.

She was totally naked.

 GOODREADS LINK:

Heartless King

Purchase TODAY! US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087BL3PJB

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B087BL3PJB

CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B087BL3PJB

AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B087BL3PJB

ALSO AVAILABLE IN KINGS OF RITTENHOUSE SERIES

And FREE to Read with Kindle Unlimited

Amazon Series Page US: https://amzn.to/3bntcKR

CA: https://amzn.to/3bt3Pr8 UK: https://amzn.to/3eJRzoi

AUTHOR BIO

Maya Hughes can often be found sneaking in another chapter while hiding in the bathroom from her kids! :-) I’m a romance writer who loves taking inspiration from everyday life, namely my husband and biggest fan. Inspiration also strikes when I hear a song, meet someone new or daydream while at soccer practice.

I’m the mom of three little ones, the wife to an amazing husband and also work full time. Some of my favorite things are cinnamon rolls, white wine, laughing until I can’t breathe and traveling with my family.

AUTHOR LINKS

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mayahugheswrites/

Bookbub: http://bookbub.com/authors/maya-hughes

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/mayahughes

Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/mayahughes

[gloriousgwendolinechristie]

Press/Video/Photos: Interview - Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie

From Star Wars to the new Top of the Lake, Gwendoline Christie has become a screen heroine for our times. Lorraine Candy meets the unconventional actress who embraces the joy of being an outsider

    SUNDAY TIMES STYLE – Let’s get the tall bit out of the way first, shall we? Gwendoline Christie is a delicate 6ft 3in tall. I say delicate because, personally, I’m always struck by how dainty the Game of Thrones superhero is. She is all fine blonde curls and flawless porcelain skin. Feminine, girly, graceful are the words that come to mind when I think of the Gwendoline I have known for several years. Gosh, we have had some fun together, this elegant outsider and me. “The world is absurd, Lorraine,” she will often observe with characteristic wry humour, “and if you can’t find it absurd, then I don’t know how you’d get through.” Indeed it is — especially when you look at it from Gwendoline Christie’s perspective.

  The 38-year-old actress is a composite of opposites, if such a thing exists: an introverted extrovert, a soft strength, the most conventional unconventional person I know. She’s both intellectually intense and wonderfully silly. Time spent with the ever-so-polite and well-brought-up Gwendoline is like going to a spa for your mind: it’s never ordinary, even if it is just having a cup of peppermint tea, as we are for this interview.

  For most of her life, mostly because of her height, Gwendoline has been on the margins of what is considered normal. From being bullied at her local village school, to the relentless fruitless auditions she didn’t ever get through, she was continually told, as she puts it, “that your outside can’t come on the inside”. How demoralising, but also, perhaps, how wonderful, because if you can overcome those cruel obstacles, you develop a rare confidence that is unbreakable. Then, one day, you wake up and deliver to the universe the gift that is Brienne of Tarth, the one woman who is everything all women want to be.

I don’t need to tell you how fantastic Brienne is — the defiant medieval knight, protector of kings and queens, slayer of evil men. One scene, her infamous fight with the Hound, took two months of intense stunt training (she is still seeing a physiotherapist twice a week). It is epic, no other word for it, and even if you are not a Throner, you cannot be anything but grateful that a character like Brienne has been imagined, written and brought to life so spectacularly well. She is, to borrow a phrase, a giant step forward for womankind.

  “I have loved doing Game of Thrones,” Gwendoline says. Season 7, the penultimate series, has just started on Sky Atlantic. “I’ll be devastated when it finishes. I’m so proud of that part and the way the audience created a connection with the character. Brienne is a different version of what we normally see. She is not just conventionally unattractive, she is unconventionally unattractive. This part was the reason for all my acting training. In a world where we have so much access to these sexy ideals all the time, this was such a subversive role.”

  Amen to that. But how do you follow Brienne? Captain Phasma in Star Wars was superb, if predictable, casting, but it is the junior detective, Miranda, in Top of the Lake: China Girl, a woman who is the polar opposite of the one Gwendoline has been playing for six years, that I feel will redefine her.

  Ever conscious of the need to test herself as an actress (she is rigorous in her devotion to the craft and has an accomplished theatre career), Gwendoline has created a new character who is physically and mentally fragile.

  She has done it with the acclaimed writer and director Jane Campion, with whom she has wanted to work since she was very young. “I asked the universe then — no, I told the universe nicely — to make it come true,” she recalls, after explaining how many buses she had to take across the Sussex countryside after lying to her parents about her whereabouts and sneaking into the cinema to watch Campion’s groundbreaking 1993 film, The Piano.

  Miranda is a broken, vulnerable, lonely and actually comic police officer who appears in the second series of Campion’s award-winning BBC2 drama Top of the Lake, on screens now. The role was written specially for Gwendoline, and she lived in Sydney for five months while filming it. I have seen the first two gripping episodes, and you are in for a treat — it’s addictive cinematic TV at its best. Elisabeth Moss reprises her role as the steely Detective Robin Griffin to investigate the death of an Asian girl washed up in a suitcase on Bondi Beach. The Oscar winner Nicole Kidman rounds out the cast.

  “It feels like Jane is always subverting form,” Gwendoline says, “and that’s exciting to me. In 2008, a friend of mine offered to introduce me to her because she felt we would get on so well, but even then I couldn’t do it. When I saw she was doing Top of the Lake, I wrote her a letter — I knew I had to be in it. I can’t tell you what I said, but I kept it for 18 months before posting it. I tried to keep it short, didn’t want her to die of boredom reading it, then she emailed me back about four months after I sent it. We spoke on the phone for hours and she told me she would create a lead part for me. I asked for a challenge and Miranda is a challenge. She is constantly destabilised, she fails at everything, she is on the outside and still continues to be on the outside. This is a new story for me to tell.

  “It’s great to be a hero, but the reality for many of us is that we feel like we are failing all the time. We’re all trying to find ways to deal with that.”

  If you watch one box set this summer, watch Top of The Lake — it will give you goose bumps. Everyone is playing the opposite of the characters you expect them to be, so it’s constantly surprising — just like Gwendoline herself.

  I was editing Elle when we first met on the fashion front row. We got on like a house on fire: she is more than a foot taller than me, though we have the same size feet; the physical comedy of us never fails to delight. Her partner is my friend the fashion designer Giles Deacon, and Gwendoline takes getting dressed as seriously as I do. “I have always been fascinated by clothes and their transformative powers,” she says. “I was about 6ft at the age of 14 — I was enjoying the process of youth, wondering what kind of human being I would grow into, what kind of size I would be, what the dimensions would be as I grew more.

  “A doctor had told me I would be lucky if I stopped growing at 5ft 11in, but I thought, why stop there? I thought it was brilliant being so tall, and they were quite shocked by that response. I didn’t see what was interesting about conforming to the rule when the rule seemed nonsensical.

  “I read a lot of fashion magazines as a child. I was fascinated by who the stylists and photographers were. The images were captivating for me. I used to scour second-hand shops for vintage clothes, and I delighted in the different proportions of my size. It doesn’t make sense to me not to embrace being outside the norm. I don’t want to feel inhibited by anything.

  “I like to experiment with scale. I used to dress up a lot. My male friends would wear women’s jackets, and I would wear massively oversized things I’d found in vintage places. I really enjoy wearing men’s clothes, and often still do. I also liked the way Courtney Love dressed at the time, all those 1990s dresses, but worn with a femininity that had a violence to it. It seemed inappropriate at my height to wear such floaty dresses, so I enjoyed wearing them. I am all for drawing attention to the differences between us and not hiding from them — it is good to be spectacularly different.”

  When we meet, she is wearing a black Chloé dress, carrying a brown Margiela handbag. She buys mostly designer: Giles, Henry Holland, Roksanda, bits of Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu and more recently Isa Arfen.

  Gwendoline is a very private person, and I can see interviews are a form of torture for her. She wants to be known for her work and questions about her home life are playfully batted away with humour. It’s understandable given the level of fandom surrounding her, thanks to Game of Thrones and, of course, Star Wars. Plus, she can never hide, never be anonymous in the street; she is someone you stare at, famous or not.

  Last year when I interviewed Giles for a book about London designers, I asked him what kind of women he designed clothes for. Someone smart, confident in who she is, different from everyone else and happy with that, spirited, unpredictable, a woman who is fun “and looks like she would be a bit of trouble on a night out”, he told me. I think he has described Gwendoline perfectly. And, if I had my way, she wouldn’t be the outsider — we all would.

  Top of the Lake: China Girl, Thursdays at 9pm on BBC2

  Styling: Katie Felstead. Hair: John D at Forward Artists for Tresemmé. Make-up: Stoj at Streeters using Charlotte Tilbury. Nails: Marisa Carmichael

    I’ve loaded the beautiful photo shoot in the gallery. Check it out! I should be adding the scans to the gallery later today.

    Gallery Link:

Photoshoots > Photoshoots in 2017 > Photoshoot 011

  Press/Video/Photos: Interview – Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie was originally published on Glorious Gwendoline

[mille-at-home]

It's a syn 😜

I am sure feeling my age this week and perhaps realising that I can’t decorate with the speed that I have been accustomed too over years. Knee pain?! Argh I survived the quite wonderful Abba Mania concert by having ibroprofen for breakfast, lunch and dinner but the pain has been quite something! I am fine walking but lifting my right knee/leg or walking up the stairs especially is pretty bad, but driving my little automatic car has proved excruciating! I have had to get on with it as I have been at the garage all week and well, resting it is not an option. Then came Wednesday and the pain has still not subsided, do I go to karate or don’t I?! If I miss another session I will lose motivation and I guess it’s an age thing anyway so I have bitten through it. Bought some sport knee supports, a huge tube of voltoral and apart from getting up from the bow I was fine. We were on self defence anyway so nothing too heavy and I promised myself some self discipline. Rather strangely today it feels better? Perhaps i needed the karate strengthening? But I have taken a break from the decorating as I have been helping at the garage this week. Painting will commence again this weekend, I may well be wearing the knee supports!

With more hours comes more problems with hours in the day and there were a few things I had to attend this week that I couldn’t cancel and some I had to jiggle around. First was Cory’s physio, a strange one as I don’t see any improvements - the physio was her usual lovely self but said that although she needs to see Cory regularly she needs to discharge him and I need to make a ‘self referral’ every three months? I kind of agreed with her (as you do) but questioned why on earth he can’t just have the usual follow up; apparently this is because hours are being cut and they need to discharge patients? This is madness! So here I have sat feeling guilty for not referring him earlier when I first noticed the problems, there she sat at one stage making me feel guilty for not referring him earlier. (I took him to the GP) Cory sat as usual with difficulty, completed some difficult stretches admitting when and where he is in pain or certain positions he is uncomfortable with and she wants to discharge him saying that the metal shoe plates have done wonders?! Erm…My confused look and questioning quickly made her plot a follow up appointment for the summer but I have to admit, I don’t see any improvements but I also think he will be discharged with the same problem due to these physiotherapists needing to keep their jobs or complete discharge notes! What a mess!!

Tuesday I had my first keyboard lesson! This was difficult to source a teacher for day times (I have no evenings free) but we spoke a couple of months back and I said I needed to decorate and organise before I can start, after half term seemed perfect! It was fantastic and it’s only half an hour a week but my aim is to get back into reading sheet music again. (I played guitar at Erin’s age) The teacher is great and we hit it off straight away, I am going to teach Erin what I learn each week and in turn she will teach me guitar! Well, watch this space as I should improve! Ha Ha!

Time has been against me really and I admit that after Christmas I joined slimming world! Well, I need a kick to motivate and encourage me. I have done well, it’s slow for me but I have never eaten so much but really enjoying the plan and really enjoying experimenting with so much food; but it doesn’t work when I have the husband home! I can’t blame him solely but he can take some responsibility! I missed weigh in last week as he was home and we needed to finish Erin’s room. I planned to be there this week and go to the garage after weigh in but that didn’t go as planned so after much stressing and reorganising I dropped by after karate last night. I did feel a bit of a wally rushing in in my Gi but I had no time to plan another outfit so I went with it. This group was a lot smaller than the usual group and really friendly bunch. I found myself chatting to some nice gentleman and another lady about nut allergies, her son was going in for testing and even when I stepped on the scales to be told I’d gained 3lb I laughed and said ‘I blame the chocolate cake’ they did too and said something equally funny and on my way out a lovely lady was asking where I train and the costs. I may have recruited another one so all was not really that bad! Slimming world is great but you do have to plan and with work and children and my best intentions it never goes accordingly. I am back on it and promise not to eat any more chocolate cake!!

I tried to have a telephone conversation with the husband tonight, in fairness it’s only ever me wittering at him because when I ask how his day has been I get “Yeah, I have done this and that” but I just go with it as it is what it is, anyway Cory was in one of his funny witty moods in the background, much to the irritation of Erin. I have completely stopped the 'play fighting’ that seemed to be a passing phase but now we are onto verbal insults?! So apparently Erin is a reject, Cory is a nerd and all that but Erin seems to have developed a real irritation to Cory’s funny wit. I quite like it myself but her tongue can be particularly sour! The slow cooker had lovingly prepared beef in tomatoes whilst I had been at work, (I need to marry this thing) served with veg and all the healthy stuff I try to do. You know the 'good mum’ foods. An hour later they want jam sandwiches?! Knowing Erin is thinking of some remark to spark the teenagers quick temper, I sit and supervise said sandwich making - whilst sitting on the table like a senior care assistant at the dementia dining table. Children are so damned predictable aren’t they? Cory hadn’t even spread the jam when she starts on him 'don’t take all the bread’ 'too much jam’ etc etc and it turned into her having her tablet and phone taken away tonight. She says 'I don’t care, I will catch up with daily bumps tomorrow then’ so I ban it tomorrow as well until the attitude subsides, she responds with a big 'growl’ and huff so I say 'right Saturday banned’ I get another big sigh 'right Sunday banned’ another sigh; until I get to next Friday! Crikey….she then enters into panic mode realising that she can’t text Dad? Tears and tantrums have followed since and it’s now 10pm - I have had a little beer as there is no wine?!!! (anyway it’s a syn) I am not giving in! Daughter = 0 Mum = 1 I have soooo bloody got this MU living haven’t I?! Bah!!!

On a more positive note - tomorrow is Friday! Have a great weekend all. Mille X

[phawareglobal]

Shanna Hiemstra - phaware® interview 317

South African Pulmonary hypertension caregiver, Shanna Hiemstra is captain of Team PH South Africa. Since Shanna's mother Sandra was diagnosed, Shanna has become largely involved with PHA South Africa.

My name is Shanna Hiemstra. I am part of the committee of the Pulmonary Hypertension Association of South Africa. I'm based in Johannesburg, South Africa and I am the daughter of a PH patient [Sanda Small].

Pulmonary hypertension is something that is really important to me. We're not represented well enough in South Africa. Obviously, being a rare disease, it means that there aren't a lot of people who know about the condition. There are not that many medical practitioners who treat it and a lot of patients go undiagnosed. Thank you very much for this opportunity to chat about it, because I think that in our part of the world, it’s great when we have the opportunity to be able to reach out to more people out there.

We were actually on a family hike, which we do every year around Easter time, and my mum does it with us every year. We go on really long, like four or five day hikes together. And she suddenly collapsed. I wasn't there at the time. She was with some of my family members and it was really strange. They rushed her off to the doctor. She was really fortunate that the physician that saw her was actually aware of pulmonary hypertension, and he wanted to run a few tests and she was really fortunate that she was diagnosed fairly quickly. That was in the year 2000.

So we are coming up to the 20 year anniversary of my mom's diagnosis. She's actually the longest surviving PH patient in South Africa. It's quite incredible. She takes every year as it comes. She's hit goals for herself. At the time, I was in my final year of high school and they told her that she would have a maximum of three years to survive, because as we know the diagnosis for a PH patient is roughly three years according to the studies. She wanted to see me graduate high school and then her next goal was for me to be able to graduate university. She has, over the years had many, many milestones that she's been able to witness, which has been fantastic. Little did we know that around a similar time, not long after she was diagnosed, there was a lady [Sharon Chetty], who was diagnosed in another part of our country in about 2001. She actually wrote a newspaper article and had it published saying she has pulmonary hypertension, she doesn't know anyone else who has it, but is there anyone else out there in the country who maybe has pulmonary hypertension that she could reach out to and maybe they can form a connection. Amazingly, two people responded to her newspaper article, and a few years later they formed an official support group.

Then as time went by, in about 2006, [another PH patient, Elzarie Devenish] started putting out requests for sponsorship to attend a PHA conference. She was really fortunate that they managed to raise enough funds for her to be able to go and she went to the conference that happened in Minneapolis, in 2006. There she met with an incredible team. They inspired her to start something more substantial in South Africa. A couple of years later as more and more patients started getting together, my mom being one of those. I think they had, at that point, about five patients who had been diagnosed around the country. They all met together in a really small town and they decided to work together to start the Pulmonary Hypertension Association of South Africa. That was in 2010. They were officially registered as a nonprofit organization. They've put a lot of work into putting their association together. We've managed to get medications more accessible to patients at lower costs. We advocate for PH patients around the country and we still have a lot of work ahead of us.

Currently, in South Africa, we only have two treatments registered for Pulmonary Hypertension. Internationally there's between 14 and 16 depending on where in the world you are. So PH patients still have to fight for every access to treatment that they can. Those are some of the big tasks that we have ahead of us. My mum and I were extremely fortunate and very honored that we were able to attend the PHA Conference in Dallas that took place in 2016. It was so inspiring. It was absolutely incredible. The number of patients, the support, the healthcare practitioners that focused on pulmonary hypertension, it was really inspiring.

I was lucky enough at that conference to meet up with Team PHenomenal Hope. I'd never heard of such a thing before. I was really inspired by the incredible work that they do to advocate for pulmonary hypertension patients and it was really such an interesting way of people who have the ability, like myself, to be able to support patients who don't have the ability to participate in sporting events. I made contact with the team then and there have been incredibly supportive of us.

We officially started Team PHenomenal Hope South Africa based on that meeting. They helped us to set up a website to design our kit and we've participated in a number of big events with some teams, especially cyclists, and as we're starting to grow, we're starting to participate in more and more events and we're gaining some traction now. We've got some big tasks ahead of us. We're participating in some big events later in this year. I plan, coming from a zero base plan, to participate in an ultra-marathon. [It’s] what's called the Comrades Marathon. It's 90 kilometers. I don't know what that conversion is in miles, but it's really, really far and I'm petrified. Especially, because this is a milestone year for us with 10 years of Pulmonary Hypertension Association, and 20 years since my mum was first diagnosed. I felt like this was a year to really take a massive step and make a huge commitment to be creating more awareness for pulmonary hypertension. Hopefully we'll get more following based on that. We've worked really closely with another group called the Jenna Lowe Trust. Jenna was a pulmonary hypertension patient who really advocated for patients in South Africa. Unfortunately, she passed away just short of her 21st birthday, and her parents have been incredible in keeping up her legacy and still driving awareness for pulmonary hypertension patients. As a result of that, through their connections and their network, they've really kept in good contact with some great specialists in the U.S. We're working with them and [they’ve] put together the first ever Pulmonary Hypertension Patient's Perspective Conference, which is taking place in March this year, which is really going to be incredible. It's the first time that we've had anything of this sort in South Africa and there are doctors coming over from the U.S. who will be meeting with our local patients and giving them advice. It's really going to be the first time that we bring so many patients together, much in the same way as what [PHA] has done in the U.S. We're hoping that this will help to create more of a community and help us to be able to advocate better, especially for our patients that are receiving treatment in the government sector who really have very little access to treatments as it stands today. It's incredible how far we've come. In 2000, when my mum was one of three patients that we knew of and it started to grow and grow, we now know of roughly around 100 patients in South Africa all around the country. We have doctors that are specializing in PH, which we never thought would ever happen. We have a really strong community. We are working together closely with Rare Diseases Association of South Africa, as well. It's amazing how when people have a united front and they're joined together for a common purpose.

The family connection that we've created, we have people all around the country who have never met face to face, but they're on WhatsApp groups together and they support each other through hospitalizations, through surgeries, through new treatments through clinical studies. It's really amazing how just by connecting together, so much is possible and so much more is going to happen. We've got patients that are being represented who have never ever been represented before. We have managed to achieve so many things and it's amazing how even people who are not personally connected to pulmonary hypertension are willing to show their support and willing to create awareness through Team PHenomenal Hope.

People who know of someone via someone, via someone who've bumped into someone who's dragging around an oxygen machine are wanting to support Team PHenomenal Hope. We've got specialists, we've got physiotherapists who are part of the team and it's really amazing to see what pulling together can really do to make a difference for pulmonary hypertension patients. I think there's just so much more to come so that these patients have a voice.

I'm Shanna Hiemstra, and I'm aware that my mom is rare.

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