10 things I know ABOUT LIFE

A brush with death led Georgina Scull to explore what really mattered to her, and how we can all make the most of our fragile, precious lives

- Georgina Scull

Sometimes there is a moment when everything becomes very clear. A moment that brings into focus what your life has become, and what you really want it to be. For some it can be a birth, for others a death. For me, it was both of those things. It was the moment 10 years ago, at the age of 37, when my pregnancy ruptured and I nearly died.

After one blood transfusion and four days in hospital, I found myself back at home, back to being a wife and a stay-at-home mum. I'd lost the baby at 10 weeks, along with my ability to have any more children, but I was alive and well, and already a mother to my two-year-old: I had lots of reasons to be happy and grateful, but I wasn't. I was devastated, and confused about what my life meant now.

I needed to find a way to change the things I no longer liked, and to really appreciate all the things that I did. So, through a series of support groups, online forums and friends, I found people who were facing their own mortality and wanted to talk. I listened to all the things they had learnt about life, and their regrets, and what they thought really matters in the end. And gradually, very gradually, I got there. If you need it, I hope these lessons will help you get there too.