It was 2005 when Steve first fell ill. Having just graduated from university the previous year he was fit and healthy and headed straight off to coach soccer in the USA that lasted several months it was on his return that Steve started to become ill. The exact cause is still a mystery but he started to experience a boom and bust type of illness which gradually worsened over the course of a year to the point that he could barely walk a few steps. He was diagnosed by the Royal Hallamshire with severe ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis), a condition that causes severe disabling fatigue and many other symptoms.
He was bed ridden for nearly 5 years and dependent on his family for everything. He had to be rehoused to a single level home, and whilst there he was confined to bed. On a good day he was wheeled in a wheel chair to the bathroom by his mother who showered him in a plastic patio chair. He often had to be bed bathed and used a urine bottle to wee on a daily basis. Food had to be cut for him and he occasionally had to be spoon fed. He couldn't listen to music, watch tv or receive visitors because of severe neurological problems.
He was determined, to get well, and knew about the power of the mind body connection through the work of Deepak Chopra, he taught himself to meditate listening to audio CD’s in bed. Although it took a while to get back on his feet he started to notice big shifts in his own thinking & awareness his mindset changed from constricted and rigid to open and flexible. Steve began to see his problem as an huge opportunity to grow ideas & plan design projects in his head that one day in the future he hoped to create.
In late 2009 after a sequence of random coincidences he was handed info about the lightning process from articles in national newspapers, magazines and texts from friends all in the space of a few days! He knew something was telling him something, and decided to go for it and applied for the training with Lightning Process Practitioner, me Jenny Gilmore. On the first day of the lightning process he was whizzing himself around his home in his wheel chair smiling from ear to ear. His mum came back from work and was amazed. On day 2 he stood up on his skeleton thin legs and walked to the toilet and back, by day 3 he had seen a huge shift in his symptoms he was able to walk around the house on his own and even walked a few steps outside for the first time in years (which was the strangest feeling) Then he was refamiliarising himself with the outside world, and building his physical strength. He started off by walking to the park across the road, then the local shops, soon he was taking the bus into town, and visiting friends. He started to go further he took many trips to the train station and then took the train to York. He visited friends in London, and started to work on fulfilling his dreams - he helped out as a volunteer at a contemporary art gallery. This gave him the confidence to start a part time job and get freelance work. He also set up his own own furniture design business in 2012 and has recently started teaching meditation in Sheffield.
Steve is finally making the ideas & designs he had in his head while lying in bed all those years ago and has since taken his OM Hook project into full production. He took the prototypes down to the London Design Festival last Sept showing them a the Design junction event, they were featured on the Dezeen website and in both ICON magazine and are now in the ICON product yearbook 2014.
Two weeks ago Steve took delivery of his first ever batch of metal spun OM hooks ready for sale. Designed and built here locally in Yorkshire to exacting standards by highly skilled craftsmen. He will be taking these down along with new product launches to the upcoming London Design Festival in September. His work is currently on display at Made North gallery in Sheffield.
Visit Steve's website here
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