00:00She was my first miniature donkey and obviously I got into donkeys through an illness and it all
00:05stemmed from a broken foot and it was misdiagnosed as a sprained ligament. So for 10 weeks they made
00:13me walk on it and the pain caused my brain to shut down. I was left with hypersensitivity all over my
00:18body and literally overnight I lost the ability to read, write, I couldn't add any one and I was
00:24left with these dizzy spells where I dropped to the floor and I wouldn't be able to walk 24 hours.
00:28And of course that were a very scary time for me, my mum, my family. And one day out of the blue and I still
00:36don't know why, I asked for a donkey and I'd always been lucky that I grew up on a farm and I'd come
00:43from a horsey family and I never showed one bit of interest. So of course my mum said no you can't
00:48have a donkey and my aunties went out and got me one anyway and she was actually my first miniature donkey
00:55donkey and it was just like we bonded. I used to sit and read, practice my reading to her,
01:02just sit and talk to her and it did me the world of good. And she was in foam, so I had a little foam.
01:09And doing what we called donkey research, I found out that there was a whole donkey stud that a couple owned.
01:15They actually started the Miniature Mediterranean Donkey Association and they were giving up and looking
01:20to re-home the donkeys due to ill health. And when we actually went down to visit them, we went all the
01:27way down to Sussex and they said, you haven't got enough donkey experience but come and visit them.
01:34And by the time we left after the weekend, they'd given me every donkey, all their equipment,
01:39so we went up in numbers quite quickly. I had a few more falls born. But of course then it was,
01:46we were about 13 and we were at the points where I'd relearned everything, nothing ever came back,
01:51so I had to learn how to add and write again and read. And I said to my mum, we've got these baby
02:00donkeys that have been born into this home. They're just no love. What about those that aren't like this
02:06and they need a home for life? So I want to rescue them and of course I were doing really well and I
02:12wanted to be able to share my donkeys with other people. So I said, can we have a donkey sanctuary?
02:17And this time she said, we'll see what we can do. So it's been a very long journey but well worth it.
02:25This area is going to be our new indoor therapy centre. So it takes over all this paddock and a
02:32little bit more and we're going to be able to offer our donkey therapy sessions in here where people
02:39will be able to walk the donkeys, interact with them on a much bigger scale than what we can just offer
02:44at the minute. Hello, Christine and Duncan here with Samson the Donkey. And this is the Wonky Donkey
02:51Sanctuary just outside Darrington. We're down here to find out all about it today but also to promote
02:57a very special event that's coming up on May the 7th at the King's Croft Hotel in Pontefrat. Yeah,
03:04Duncan and I are going to be on stage telling you all our secrets. What are we doing? Are we? It's an
03:09audience. It's the first ever audience with Christine and Duncan and all those behind the scenes, Goss.
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