Trapped: My Life with Cerebral Palsy

An honest, unflinching, and inspiring memoir of living with a challenging disorder.
 
Fran Macilvery was born in the 1960s, when her parents were living in the Belgian Congo. Fran was the second of premature twins—and until the last moment, no one knew that twins were arriving. The complications and resulting delay led to Fran’s cerebral palsy.

Growing up with her siblings in Africa, Fran always felt different. When everyone else was playing and having fun, she would watch and wish she could join in. Eventually the family moved to Scotland and, as Fran grew older, her hurt turned into anger, self-hatred, and suicidal depression. Then one day, someone looked at her and saw a woman to love, and that was the start of her journey to self-acceptance.

A truthful and revealing look at the difficulty of maintaining the appearance of a “normal” life with CP, and the lessons learned along the way, Trapped is “an ideal firsthand account of the unique and largely unknown world of disability. Disabled people deserve to be recognized as human beings. Many more will be, thanks to Fran Macilvey’s exquisite prose. This puts us all in her debt” (Dr. James MacDonald, Associate Research Fellow at the University of Exeter).