An Olympian journey from Depression to Joy | 3 minute read

Sarah with Dinka, a friend's dog whose gentle presence gave Sarah a renewed faith in life. We love dogs at Zeez Sleep.

Our inventor/engineer, Steve Walpole, spent decades working on the technology behind Zeez and is still developing new products to help with sleep, relaxation and mood. The nature of inventing and trialling can be wearing and – ironically, perhaps – induce sleepless nights as the search goes on for a solution that works consistently for as many people as possible.

And then, unsolicited, comes feedback that validates all that work, and makes it feel completely worthwhile.

Such a message came into the Zeez mailbox from Sarah:

“.. the sleep pebble transformed my life; I’m full of life again, have more energy, I’m so much happier and actually felt joy, a feeling that I haven’t felt in years... I feel much more self-reliant as a result … feelings of depression have faded away which is refreshing and so much lighter. I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart ❤️; it literally feels like I have been given a second chance of life."

We asked Sarah to tell us more, and this is her story.

Sarah is in her early forties. She lives with Athetoid Cerebral Palsy, which means that she struggles to control and  coordinate with her body’s movements; the consequence of oxygen starvation at birth. Overcoming a multitude of challenges, Sarah has pursued sport on a World stage as a professional swimmer for almost 20 years, competing for South Africa in the Sydney and Beijing Paralympics as well as a number of World  Swimming Championships in  Brazil, Canada and New Zealand. She has also won several gold and silver medals at the Cerebral Palsy Games in Connecticut, USA.

Cerebral Palsy affects a person’s ability to balance, move, speak and hold their posture. Fatigue results from the fact that a person with CP works many times harder to perform daily activities, and the fatigue is mental as well as physical. In 2011, after losing a best friend to Leukaemia, Sarah was diagnosed with Depression.

Sarah didn’t seem to have a sleep problem, but she did suffer from the levels of fatigue common to those with her condition. She “had a feeling the Zeez Sleep Pebble might help if she could have deeper sleep”. 

Sarah began using the Zeez Pebble to address her fatigue and a few weeks in was blown away as she began to experience something quite unforeseen, the reason why she calls her Zeez Pebble ‘a big, big gift.’

Sarah had initially hoped that the Pebble would allow her to sleep more deeply and wake up more rested. What she did not expect was that the device would act on her mood and address her deep-seated depression. Her mental state has responded so positively, she credits her Pebble for bringing her ‘a second chance of life.’

“I haven’t felt this optimistic in years,” she says. “I would never have thought this object would work on depression . . . Truly the Sleep Pebble transformed my everyday. I’m full of life, have more energy, I’m so much happier and actually feel joyful - and much more grounded.”

Sarah’s Dad has noticed the change too, and often observes that she is now more bubbly. He, of course, passionately wants to see his daughter happy. “I don’t really understand how it took my depression away,” Sarah acknowledges, “but I am just incredibly grateful.”

She describes daily struggles, a feeling of doom closing in on her, together with feelings of worthlessness, emptiness and what she expresses as “sheer aloneness”. These descriptions will resonate with people living with the crippling reality of depression.

Since using the Zeez Sleep Pebble the feelings have faded away – “Literally,” Sarah says. ‘For the past few weeks, I have hardly experienced those feeling.” That is the ‘big gift’ she speaks about.

These are Sarah’s personal experiences. Everyone is different and the Zeez Pebble works in such a gentle and deep way, we do not look for carbon-copy outcomes. We don’t present our products as a silver bullet or claim they will have such a profound effect on depression for everyone. For Sarah, it has been so, and continues to be an absolute game-changer. As she puts it, ‘A light in a world of negativity.’

Interestingly, and bringing us down to earth with a small bump, the Zeez Sleep Pebble did not work for Sarah’s dad! But, as Sarah says, he didn’t use it regularly, and we need regular use to train our brain. Sarah’s dad does, however, love seeing his daughter enjoying her life more (and we are hoping that we can persuade him to use a Zeez consistently himself!).

The Zeez Pebble is used by most of its owners as a sleep enhancer, and certainly Sarah now gets better sleep, even if that was not her initial goal. Better sleep helps with her sport; Sarah still swims. It helps her socially too and she now goes out more and is developing new friendships.

Buying the Pebble was a leap of faith for Sarah, as she felt it was quite expensive. ‘If I knew what I know now, I would have paid a lot more,’ she assures us. It’s our profound hope at Zeez Sleep that our technology can reach as many people as possible, and to work with a charity one day to make our products as affordable as possible.

We are inspired by Sarah who is an example of incredible resolve and human determination and thank her for sharing her story.