Hannah Benson

April 16th was a normal day at work for Hannah, a 5.30am wake up and out with the horses by 6.30am. Unfortunately, the horse Hannah was riding slipped, squashing her and she stopped breathing. She was resuscitated twice and found herself in an induced coma for 10 days in intensive care.

Hannah describes learning to walk again and remembers being asked if she could skip to 10 metres. “I stood there for a good five minutes until I realised I couldn’t”.

Flicking through a magazine, Hannah stumbled across an article about Ed in 2020. She put off applying for a beneficiary place thinking she’d never get a place.

Fast forward a few months and Hannah describes meeting Ed and Lois before ‘Walk the Coast’ earlier this year. “I spoke to them both over zoom but never met them face to face and I was greeted with a huge bear hug from both of them. It was this that instantly made me let my guard down. For me, this is a huge thing". Iceland was an opportunity for Hannah to challenge any negative beliefs and fears she had around walking on unstable ground and particularly around talking about her mental difficulties. “The group of likeminded, incredibly supportive people of varying ages and life experiences gave me the confidence to share my story more than I ever imagined. It made me realise that one, it was ok to cry and two, facing the fear of avoidance, could help you realise so much about yourself and how strong you can be as well as how far you’ve come”.

The whole M2M family is excited to watch Hannah continue to grow, and she is looking ahead to more treks in the future.

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