| | By Lucy Benyon |  |
| | |
| 1 | | MANY women experience a moment of |
| | clarity that inspires them to make a life |
| | change. For Linda Cruse, the flash of |
| | insight occurred 15 years ago during a |
| | terrifying incident. Since then the 53-yearold |
| | former sales representative has |
| | transformed her life. The mother of two has |
| | become an aid worker in some of the most |
| | extreme places on earth. |
| | |
| 2 | | Linda became a single parent in her late |
| | 20s. She once shared a family home in |
| | Bristol with her children, Gail, 31, and |
| | Graham, 29, but now Linda owns nothing |
| | but a battered blue suitcase and a few |
| | personal possessions. Yet what she lacks in material goods she makes up |
| | for in conviction. “I have absolutely no regrets,” she says. |
| | |
| 3 | | Energetic and passionate, Linda embodies optimism and strength but she |
| | has not always been like that. “I used to be pretty negative,” admits Linda. |
| | She had a job as a sales representative in a pharmaceuticals company. |
| | The money was good but she felt [id:99304] . Then late one night she was |
| | driving on the motorway when she suddenly lost her sight. Luckily she |
| | made it to a layby. “I thought I might die and I made a vow to myself if |
| | I survived, I would change my life,” says Linda. After a couple of hours her |
| | sight returned as unexpectedly as it had disappeared. She has since |
| | discovered that temporary blindness can be caused by stress. From that |
| | moment on she banished all negative influences from her life. |
| | |
| 4 | | When her daughter went on a gap year to work on an aid project in rural |
| | China, Linda went to visit and wanted to get involved. A year later, when |
| | Linda was 40, she got in touch with a charity called Project Trust. She |
| | was sent to southern China as a volunteer teacher. Before long she |
| | gained a reputation for creating strong links between big businesses and |
| | small local charities. After China she moved on to projects in Nepal and |
| | Tibet where she was granted a private audience with the Dalai Lama. |
| | Later, Prince Charles visited a project for Tibetan refugees that she had |
| | pioneered. |
| | |
| 5 | | The real test came in 2004 when the Asian tsunami struck. Linda travelled |
| | to a refugee camp in the beleaguered Thai region of Khao Lak but the first |
| | few hours were so horrifying she wondered if she could bear to stay. |
| | “There was a smell of destruction with grief and fear everywhere I looked,” |
| | recalls Linda. “The mood was of mass hysteria.” Her first priority was to |
| | break the chain of misery in the camp so she arranged for a magician and |
| | circus to come over from the UK to give the children the chance to feel joy |
| | again. Linda stayed for two years, helping launch new businesses and |
| | organizing for Thai fishermen to learn how to build new boats. |
| | |
| 6 | | Spending her time amid such hardships and suffering made it harder for |
| | Linda to visit the UK. She says: “I try not to be judgmental but people here |
| | do take a lot for granted.” Her own family, which includes two grandsons, |
| | is still important to Linda. She tries to visit her children every three months |
| | and stays with her parents in Bristol when in the UK. Not everyone |
| | understands why she has chosen such a nomadic lifestyle. She has |
| | suffered from dysentery, exhaustion and been forced to live without |
| | running water or shelter. Yet she has forged the most incredible |
| | friendships and feels intense satisfaction from helping people in dire need. |
| | She now wants more people to get involved in international projects and |
| | has launched her own organization, Be The Change, to bring business |
| | leaders and charities together. |
| | |
| 7 | | As for her own future, Linda has no desire to return to the life she left |
| | behind. “I will go wherever I am needed,” she says. “I have told my |
| | children I will keep going until the day I die. I want a traditional Tibetan |
| | burial and for my body to be left on a mountainside.” Until then, this |
| | amazing woman will continue to fly high. |
| | |
| | www.express.co.uk, 2012 |
