Model with chronic back pain hits rock bottom and rebuilds her life with cat sitting franchise

A model has told The Sun newspaper that she hit rock bottom at one stage when she was a model because she developed chronic back pain which the surgeons could not fix. She had numerous operations which failed to resolve the problem but left her back looking a mess and at one stage she was confined to her bed in agony, contemplating suicide. She went further and tried to end her life but she was found the next day unconscious.

Helena when she was modelling. Image: Focus Features.

Her name is Helena Abrahams and she is now 52 years of age. She is a cat lover. She lives with nine cats. Her cats gave her inspiration to start a cat sitting business which proved highly successful. She now runs a franchise and has franchisees all over the country and she turns over £100,000 annually. She is making a good living thanks to her love of cats and getting her health back.

After multiple back operations. Image: Focus Features.

And she praises her cats for seeing her through the darkest days of her illness when she was surviving on Pringles because she had no money for food and any money that she did have she spent on food for cats.

She now has a successful business and a bright future. What is the moral of the story? Cat companions can see you through your darkest hours and give you inspiration to climb out of the abyss of despair and gradually build towards the zenith of success!

I will add a bit of detail to that overview of her story. She said that her whole career was based around her looks but because of her back pain and the multiple operations the surgeons "butchered" her back. It looks a mess but fortunately now after all these years it doesn't hurt as much.

She was even compelled at one stage to sell some nice jewellery that her parents had given her as a present. She had to pay her bills somehow. She had a relationship and that ended. She wasn't seeing anybody except her dad. In her late 30s she could no longer cope. Before she tried to end her life, she wrote letters about her cats to make sure that they went to good homes. She overdosed on the medication that she was using for her back pain.

She said:

"My cats really pulled me through the recovery, so it was natural for me to want to give something back. I really do care about cats, and how they are treated, and my clients see that. I treat every cat as though it is my own. I love working with animals and they have really turned my life around. I am still in pain, and I will need further surgery in the future, but I have so much to celebrate now. I have learned to see my scars as part of my journey, part of who I am."

She added: "For anyone who gets to that low point, please don't despair. There is always hope."