Alexandra Adams was the first guest on this podcast, and the inspiration behind starting A Life Less Ordinary. She's also a medical student who is deaf-blind. In 2020 she went into hospital with symptoms of an undiagnosed chronic illness and was there for 17 months during which time she massively deteriorated and experienced some shocking mistreatment at the hands of medical staff and some hugely traumatic experiences, including having covid in hospital in the midst of the pandemic. Alexandra shares these experiences as well as that of finding her community online of others with chronic illnesses.
She tells me of how earlier this year she managed to find a renewed sense of purpose and was able to get back on her medicine degree, as well as a job as a phlebotomist. Sharing her story more recently on Tiktok she blew it up with her myth-busting videos about being a deaf-blind medical student. Alexandra talks openly in this interview about her mental health struggles and she shares some wonderful advice on how to cope with setbacks.
TW: In this episode Alexandra tells me about some shocking stories of mistreatment and lack of care whilst in hospital. It is acknowledged that staff were under immense pressure and there was a huge lack of resources and staffing during this period. Fingers are not being pointed. Alexandra is merely sharing her experiences and her learning from this challenging time.
Find Alexandra at @alexandraelaineadams and Sophie at @sophieelwes.