Scotland: Journey highlights

On Saturday 13th November, I travelled from London, England to Edinburgh, Scotland with the plans of meeting and interviewing Hayley Hunter. Hayley and I had conversed for many weeks on Facebook and initially met on Zoom before we arranged to meet in Scotland.

At first, I felt nervous meeting someone I had never met before but meeting for the purpose to talk about our shared condition made me feel a lot more comfortable. I intended to first get to know her on a deeper level as, as a journalist creating a character-led documentary, this was crucial in the development of my story.

But before I began, I first explored the beautiful city of Edinburgh as it was my first time visiting!

My time in Edinburgh City, Scotland | Photos by me

Here are some of my favourite highlights and the following day of meeting Hayley:

Me and Hayley, photo by me

After travelling for an hour and 40 minutes to Innerleithen from Edinburgh City Centre, I arrived at Hayley's house where we first got to know each other. We then conversed about Trochlear dysplasia: our experiences, our concerns and what we both wanted to portray in my documentary. As Hayley primarily participates in it, she wanted to shine a light on what concerned us the most about Trochlear dysplasia, as well as sharing our hopes about things we wish we knew unquestionably. It was so lovely meeting Hayley and hearing her story - she was just as lovely in person as she was online!

Overall, I am grateful for this journey and having had the opportunity to travel and meet other people. It has opened my eyes and changed my perspective of the struggles I face daily now having known that I am not the only one.