OUR PEOPLE
The lady who turned lemons into the sweetest of lemonades Ann Bromley speaks to GAIL FORRER about how she went against the grain to stop her physical disability from defining her life.
Ann Bromley with her granddaughter Jeni.
B
eing diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy as a baby in 1937, meant your future life was going to be tough. But if you had the support of a good, strong family, the use of a smart mind and your name was Ann Bromley, life was a hurdle you were going to learn to jump through - no matter how high,
Well perhaps not jump through, because Ann says her balance was bit of problem. “I didn’t have a walker or a walking stick, so you could just give me a shove and I would go over,” she says. On the family farm in Tamworth, she recalls the difficulty of riding a horse and
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on the farm to help out with all the physical labour including driving a tractor. When the farm was eventually sold, she moved to Sydney and worked as a Nanny. By then she was dreaming of going
staying in the saddle. Ironically, it was her dedication to the rigour of ballet classes that improved her balance and in fact, kept her on the horse. “Ballet was as good as having physiotherapy classes.” she says. Today, Ann speaks with a slight, but obvious speech impediment. Yet, like many other things she laughs it off. After spending a number of year overseas and taking in the sound of various accents - when friends find it hard to understand her - she simply applies her own brand of humor : “It’s just my Australian accent you can’t understand,” she responds. Ann was 10-years-old before she spoke, but she says this meant she could sit quietly in school and soak up knowledge. Contrary to any idea that not speaking equals low intellect, her mother, realised her daughter’s ability and contacted Sydney university to evaluate Ann’s learning aptitude. “The test showed I was two and half years ahead of my age.” At 18-years-old, Ann completed her education. At this stage, her father who moved from an accountancy career to farming in Tamworth, was not well and she stayed
“Ann was 10-years-old before she spoke, but this meant she could sit quietly in school and soak in knowledge overseas and took on an extra position as a nursing assistant to bankroll the fare. “But the girlfriend I had planned to go with deserted me at the last minute,” she recalls. Undaunted, Ann’s determination came to the fore: “I thought bugger it, and decided to go on my own.” Ann went onto spend a year in London. Within a short time of of arriving home, she met her future husband who worked in sound
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