Former Bombala resident Jemma Hall returned to Bombala to celebrate her 30th birthday at the Bombala Cup. It was a milestone that Jemma had often thought she might not make.
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Four days before her 18th birthday, Jemma was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and was started on a regime of immunosuppressant’s. Then when Jemma was 23 years old, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer.
“I underwent a series of operations before I got the all clear,” Jemma said. “But six months later, the cervical cancer came back.”
“Because I take an immunosuppressant, the cancer cells grew back quicker with cancer cells growing on top of themselves, which led to more surgery,” she said.
Much to Jemma’s surprise she fell pregnant.
“I wasn’t trying for a baby because I was taking an immunosuppressant which can cause abnormalities in babies and the doctors were worried.
The immunosuppressant drug meant that Jemma had only a 64 per cent chance of having a successful birth and there was a whopping 84 per cent that her baby could be born with deformities.
Ms Hall gave birth to a healthy daughter Faith who was small, weighing 5lb 2oz.
“Faith is my miracle baby, I was blessed to have her,” Jemma said. “I never thought I would be a mum, but I enjoy every single day.”
Apart from Jemma’s battle with illness, she also battled a weight problem. She said that she had always been a ‘big’ kid and at her 21st birthday she weighed 126kgs, “the biggest I have ever been”.
Jemma said she decided to do something about her weight and started doing ‘Hip-Hop’ dancing.
“I used to dance for four or five hours a day and after six months I had lost 25kg.
“Then I changed my diet and started eating properly and ended up losing 52kg which led me to become a finalist for the Most Inspiring Weight Loss story,” she said.
Unfortunately, after Jemma gave birth to Faith, she once again got very sick and was consequently diagnosed with Lichen Schlerosis. Jemma ended up losing another 10kg which took her weight to an unhealthy 42kg, but she has since managed to put back on a few kilos.
Although Jemma has medical check-ups every six months and her check-up a month ago came back clear, “the first time in three years”.
In the meantime Jemma is enjoying being a mum to her “Chunky Monkey”, Faith.
“She is a clever little girl and she loves shaking her booty, just like her mum.”
