Kim Jameson, 45, Gold Coast, Qld, shares her story below…
I stared at the doctor, trying to process his words.
“You suffered a stroke a few months ago,” he told me.
“And you were in a coma for 10 days afterwards.”
I was stunned.
I couldn’t remember any of it, though apparently, I’d already been told several times.
I’d been found unconscious in bed on September 8, 2021, and rushed to hospital.
Surgeons had to remove the right side of my skull to relieve swelling on my brain.
In the weeks leading up, I’d had migraines, but brushed them off.
Now, my life was unrecognisable.
Read more: “I was in a coma for four months and forgot my husband had left me!”
Over the next five months, I endured gruelling physio, relearning how to walk, shower and dress.
I couldn’t move the left side of my body, and my memory remained patchy.
But I was determined to recover – not just for me, but for my 12-year-old son, Jacob.
When I was able to walk short distances with a stick, I finally returned home.
“You’ve done so well,” my sister Jillian, 43, said.
She’d been there for Jacob and had been my rock.
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In 2023, I was approved for the NDIS, and everything changed.
With proper support, I felt hopeful again.
The following year, I bought a blank canvas.
It’s time to get myself back, I thought.
Before the stroke, I’d loved fluid art – pouring and swiping paint into mesmerising patterns.
But my illness had stopped it all.
I decided to invest in myself and took the Sheleeart Bloom E-Course.
It taught me the skills to work with fluid paint again.
As I gently guided paint across the canvas, a flicker of excitement returned.
When I finished, I burst out laughing.
“This is terrible!” I told my support workers.
They laughed, too, encouraging me.
“But just wait,” I said.
“You’ll see.”
I painted every day, slowly improving as I found my rhythm again.
When I felt ready, I started sharing videos online.
The response shocked me.
People with disabilities flooded the comments.
You’re such an inspiration, one wrote.
For the first time, I felt a real sense of purpose.
My videos quickly gained traction, racking up millions of views across Facebook, TikTok and YouTube – one even hitting seven million.
Realising my art could do more, I donated 200 practice paintings to a charity shop.
Now, each one has a home.
At Christmas, I give paintings to anyone in need of a gift.
One day, a woman messaged me.
My daughter has cerebral palsy and loves your videos, she wrote.
The next day, I posted her a painting.
She was thrilled.
I’ve recently started selling my work through my Etsy shop, Kimjamesonart.
The money I make from this helps support Jacob, as I can no longer work.
One day, I hope to set up my own art exhibition.
These days, chronic pain means I spend a lot of time resting.
But every morning, I dedicate an hour to creating.
My advice to anyone living with disability is find one thing that makes you happy and do it every day.
Because when I paint, it’s not just the colours that flow.
I do, too – into a world where I’m a capable artist, and nothing else matters.
And in my heart, I know that’s who I am.
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