Paws for thought... visits Jo Woods, who runs Jo’s Dog Grooming in Crawley who trained with Bone Idol part of the iPET Network: Jo began her career after a life changing epiphany.
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he and her father battled cancer at the same time, and due to the pandemic she was offered redundancy by her airport job. Jo knew that it was the right time to follow her dreams and enrolled with the Bone Idol Academy in Hove, Sussex. Here she tells her amazing story... I have always loved dogs, and grew up playing with my parents’ loyal German Shepherds Zoe and Sasha. From a young age I wanted to work with animals, and after school I went to Brimsbury College to study animal care, hoping to become a veterinary nurse. I loved the course, but during a stint of work experience I had an experience that really put me off getting into the veterinary profession. A healthy German shepherd, just like Zoe and Sasha, has been brought in to be put to sleep, simply because the owner didn’t want it anymore, and I
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was told to assist with the procedure. I sobbed and sobbed and it was really traumatic, and after that my heart just wasn’t in what I thought had been my dream job! I ended up flitting from job to job, before finally securing a role at Gatwick Airport, life had taken over, and my animal dreams were firmly on hold. I worked at Gatwick for years, working shifts, and enjoyed the job but at the back of my head was always the feeling that I should have worked with animals. But then my life changed completely... Ever since I was thirty I have always developed cysts in my breasts, and trips to the doctors to have them checked out had become a regular occurrence. But on one of these ultrasound trips, which felt so routine I received earth-shattering news. The ultrasound technician looked at the screen and just said “that’s not a cyst”. I was soon
diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. I was utterly in shock, and the trauma was compounded by the fact that my dad Mervyn was also battling prostate cancer. I knew that I had to be strong, but some days I really struggled, all of my family, especially my partner Mick were utterly devastated. There was a moment of realisation one day when I was talking with friends, I realised all my hair would fall out. It seems like the least of my worries, but it was like the final straw and I just broke down. My treatment ended up being seven rounds of chemotherapy, and I was very lucky not to feel sick for most of the process. There were other side effects though to contend with, the treatment attacked my joints and muscles, and I was in a lot of pain.
