It has been 21 years since an accident left her paralysed and she has been taking life one day at a time.
“I don’t have a lot to complain about. I am grateful and thankful for everything,” she told Lowvelder.
The story of Todd Heine, formerly known as Tracy Todd, is well known in the Lowveld. It was 1998.
She was married to her college sweetheart at 28, and had a 10-month-old son. She was also working
her dream job and having the best time of her life.
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Then she was involved in a car accident, in which she broke her neck and became paralysed from her neck down. She lost her ability to do anything.
A year after the accident, her husband divorced her. Todd Heine, now a quadriplegic, sits in a wheelchair which she controls with her chin. A voice recogniser was built, for which she is grateful.
“Technology has made life a lot easier for me,” she said. She used this device to write her first book, titled Brave Lotus Flower Rides the Dragon.
She financed the publication of the book through a crowdfunding campaign. She is also a motivational speaker, blogger and she uses her social media to reach out to the rest of the world.
“I have learnt to spend more time enjoying the moment, because I don’t know what will happen the next,” she said.
Todd Heine had plans a few years ago to establish a home for people like her, but she said the project could not get off the ground.
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She has not been able to get funding or the land for the project. She now focuses on helping individuals.
“I cannot help everyone, but I will help the ones I can.”
Todd Heine is registered to start a social-media short course at University of Cape Town next month. She hopes to use these skills to assist small businesses in Mbombela and earn an extra income.
“I am ageing, and traveling around is exhausting and tough on my body, so I prefer working from home,” she said.
She intends to write more books in the near future and writing a novel is definitely on her to-do list.
She married the love of her life, Rob Heine, for his “sexy legs” four years ago.
“He is best thing that has happened to me. He is the most amazing man. He makes me laugh. He is so energetic. I know whatever happens he has got my back, and vice versa. We are a team,” Todd Heine added.
She thanked the whole city of Nelspruit for their incredible support throughout the years. “There are many earth angels here, and I am grateful for them,” she added.
“I am blessed, I feel healthy and fine. I am grateful for every day and making the most of it, trying to stay positive,” Todd Heine said.
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