I have had the occasion to attend several of Karen’s talks already, whether in French, Dutch or English, whether in a big audience or in a smaller group, and each time she renews herself and shapes something different. If you are like me, a fan of Karen, and have already attended one of her talks, it is truly educational and inspiring to listen to her time and again.

This young woman, an athlete (she was Belgian swimming champion at 16), dedicated her life to sports and teaching at the Aspria Sports Club. But on 22 March 2016, that life abruptly came to a halt during the Brussels terrorist attack in Zaventem. On that day, her life changed forever. Seriously injured, she had to wait more than an hour before being rescued by an ambulance. In the ambulance her heart stopped several times. She spent 79 days in intensive care, underwent more than 60 operations (more are scheduled in the near future), and spent nearly 4 years in hospital. Besides the explosion of her left hip, she suffered from severe infections that caused her to lose her stomach and spleen. Even today, she has no other choice than to live with the consequences of the blast and the sustained disabilities, including the loud tinnitus which is present day and night and does not give her the slightest respite.

Despite all this, thanks to her resilience, she was able to rise and stand again. She commands respect and admiration. During one talk, someone raised his hand and commented :
“Should resilience have a face, it would be yours".
He was applauded because the entire assembly shared his opinion.

Resilience is a hot topic during Karen’s lecture. This time she put forward another concept as a theme – Gratitude, the mother of all virtues. Her ability to share her story and explain concepts such as resilience and gratitude demonstrates her strength of character because it is not easy to show gratitude when your life is almost completely destroyed. As she shared with us, gratitude was one of the main ingredients that allowed her to rebuild herself. During this talk, she asked us all to establish our own list of gratitudes. For my part among others, I wrote these :

• Knowing Karen
• Attending her talks.

Karen’s greatest strengths are to transcend her life adversity, translating fear and suffering into newfound hope and gratitude towards life, and to teach us all how to build resilience. All those who know her feel immense gratitude towards her. It is truly a gift and a blessing to have the chance to listen to her. Although her body is damaged by the terrorist attack, she chooses to wear a smile and shine peace and love. It is always heartwarming to listen to her talk. She is truly an icon of resilience and gratitude.

I’ll certainly be there for her next talk - each time there is something new to learn.
God bless you, Karen.

Alain PATTE
Member at Aspria