After 5 months in French Hospitals, following a traumatic car crash, Penny has finally come home.
In her own words she explains the joy of being back in the UK and back at home.
“The smell of my own sheets, the touch of the familiar steps, taste of home-cooking and the sound of my turtle doves cooing – I’m home at last after over 5 months in French hospitals.
I’ve had a great welcome with cards, flowers, balloons and all those Christmas presents I missed.
Enormous thanks to everyone who gave me the will and strength to get through those life-threatening times: all the medical, nursing, care and physiotherapy teams in France; all of my family, friends and colleagues who have visited and been in touch over the weeks. While the health care was outstanding, it was the words of encouragement, the grasp of a hand, the laughter, the odd tear and the silly sounds shared with all you caring people that got through the coma, overcame the language barriers and made my recovery possible. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Penny Melville-Brown OBE
I’m not out of the woods yet: neck vertebrae still need to consolidate and I still need more physical endurance, balance and stamina to get back to full function but I’m on track.
I’m even getting a suntan from walking daily in the local park, new muscles from getting in and out of chairs plus confidence to climb stairs. Standing for long is still quite a challenge so my cooking is mainly limited to chopping while I sit – but it is a start! It has been a sheer joy to be in my own shower, find my own clothes and be able to move around independently because I know where everything is – to the millimetre!
But I’m still driven by my desire to fulfil my role as a winner of the international Holman prize funded by San Francisco’s LightHouse organisation: I’ve cooked around the world and now want to share all those experiences, adventures and culinary delights with you.
Already I’m working on all those videos and recipes from the Baking Blind world tour. It is thrilling to relieve the fun and delight of all those wildly enthusiastic chefs and the tastes of their fantastic food.”