By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
DEATH has a habit of reorganising one’s priorities – Helen Bernard, of Dandenong North, has made major changes since being at death’s door twice three years ago.
Her house had been cluttered with her collectables – sculptures, art deco, Japanese ornaments and glassware.
She has cleared her house of 47 boxes of collectables, and instead now only keeps Buddha sculptures.
As part of the clean-out, she will appear on ABC 1’s Auction Room at 6pm this Sunday, selling off a Japanese Shibayama vase and African carved ebony female head and torso.
Ms Bernard hopes the sale proceeds will help her fly to the UK to spend time with her youngest son Adam. “Selling my things felt like the death of a part of me. That part of me didn’t want to do collecting any more.”
On Black Saturday 2009, her life changed dramatically – though in a different way than for many Victorians.
She went to Dandenong Hospital with sharp stomach pains, and doctors discovered and removed a mandarin-sized tumour from her intestines. Her family were told to say their goodbyes but she lived.
She contracted life-threatening peritonitis and blood poisoning. She spent 10 days in an induced coma but again she defied the odds. “How I pulled through, God knows,” Ms Barnard said. “I came home and kept asking why did I survive.”
After 18 months of post-traumatic depression including chemotherapy and severe dietary restrictions, she says she discovered that reiki was that purpose.
She became a grade 2 reiki healer, building a wide clientele by word of mouth. “It’s not tiring. The energy I give out is the spirit. It heals you and gives me the same nourishment.”
Ms Bernard said that since her illness, she’s become a more compassionate person. “I feel I’m alive again.”
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