September 24, 2021 (Virtual Event) with Brenda Bourns

With musical guest Paul Bergman

“Daring to stay creative in a crisis…tales of an accidental pirate”

(NOTE: ASL interpretation is available at every CM Winnipeg event!)

September’s Theme is DARE.To dare is an act of faith. We work up the nerve to make the soaring leap, even when we don’t know what the outcome will be. At the core of daring, you’ll find bravery and defiance entwined. We dare to challenge the stories passed down to us that no longer fit, the stories that limit our imagination. CreativeMornings/Porto Alegre chose September’s theme of Dare and Mitti Mendonça illustrated the theme.

Join us on September 24, 2021 (virtual event) to hear from our speaker Brenda Bourns!

Here’s Brenda’s story:

My story is one of perseverance, strength and bravery during a surreal pandemic when the world around us was already fragile and uncertain. 

On August 1st, 2020 while out walking my dog, I suffered a freak accident which resulted in the loss of my right eye. As a type 2 Diabetic I went into shock (Diabetesketoacidosis) and found myself fading in and out of consciousness on my neighbour’s front lawn.  Survival instinct as well as Mom’s instinct kicked in. I knew my daughter would be coming home from a socially distanced bonfire within in the hour. There was no way I was having her find her mother, covered in blood with a dog attached by a leash 30 feet from our home. My dog saved my life by dragging me across my neighbour’s lawn, my front lawn and up the stairs and barking until my husband woke up.What followed was 23 hours of chaos including 4 trips to 2 different hospitals alone in ambulances, separated from family because of pandemic restrictions. One hospital dealt with the eye removal, the other dealt with the Diabetic shock. My journey takes the audience from the night of the injury to the journey to relearn new simple tasks, depth perception, peripheral vision to custom made eye patches and then being fitted for a prosthetic eye. This is a story of perseverance, strength and a little bit of stubbornness thrown in for good measure.  I have dared myself many times to try new things, step out of my comfort zone, challenge myself over and over this past year. I’ve learned alot about myself and how important it is to keep going. Losing my right eye was a gift. The support of a community, combined with feelings of gratitude for the simplest of things was the greatest lesson. Life is too short. My name is Brenda…and I’m an accidental pirate.