Finding Her Footing Again: Layla’s Story
Layla was in her second year at university, full of plans, when illness and surgery changed the shape of her days.
She had thrown herself into student life — long days of lectures and libraries, late conversations with friends, the busy, hopeful momentum of a young woman building the life she wanted. She had never once doubted she could carry it.
Out of sight
She left hospital with a stoma and a quiet, growing dread. How could she sit through long lectures? How could she manage in shared spaces, far from home, without the supplies she now depended on? The conflict had made even basic stoma care products scarce and unpredictable, and each shortage chipped away at her confidence. She told her friends she was busy. Then she told them nothing at all.
She had not lost her ambition. She had only lost the certainty that she could carry it — and for a while, staying out of sight felt easier than being seen.
Finding her footing
A dependable supply of the products she needed gave her back her footing. A nurse helped her build a routine she could trust, so that managing her stoma no longer dominated her thoughts. And a connection with another woman her age — someone who understood completely — reminded her that she was not alone, and not diminished.
The plans she had set aside were still there, exactly where she had left them, waiting for her to feel ready to pick them up again.
Back to her plans
Layla returned to her lectures. Her story is about more than supplies: it is about a young woman who reclaimed her sense of herself, and walked back into the life she had only ever paused.
An illustrative story. To protect the privacy and dignity of the people we serve, this account does not portray a real, identifiable individual. It is a fictional story drawn from the real experiences and outcomes of Giving Island’s work, written to convey the human reality behind the supplies we deliver.
Behind every story like this is a simple thing: the right supplies, delivered in time.
