My name is Nicky Turriff and I’m 37 years old.

You could say my life has been pretty idyllic – I own a successful property letting business in Padstow and live on a smallholding surrounded by horses and beautiful countryside with my husband and 3 stepchildren. Despite the everyday demands of work and family life I always felt I was pretty invincible, balancing my heavy work schedule with an eventful family life and whatever else life chucked at me.

When I found out I was pregnant in 2007, I could not have been happier as my husband and I had been trying for a baby for years but to no avail. On June 7th 2008 I gave birth to the most beautiful baby girl, Poppy, and on that day I really felt my life was complete.

Shortly after Poppy’s birth however, events took a dramatic and totally unexpected turn as I developed Postnatal Depression that later developed into the horrific condition – Puerperal Psychosis. This torturous condition took over my life for 18 months and devastated my family, who just couldn’t understand how this could have happened to me ‘of all people’ and how on earth they could help bring me out of it and get ‘their Nicky’ back..

24 months on I am now on the road to recovery and thanks to a huge amount of support I am getting my life back together – but it has been a real fight. Puerperal Psychosis is a terrifying condition not only for the person suffering, but for their partner and family who will feel that they cannot help whatever they do. Now that I have finally come out of the other side, I desperately want to help other woman who are suffering from this condition and if at all possible help prevent it happening in the first place. It’s so important to increase awareness and understanding of this escalating illness as I do believe greater understanding and small steps at the earlier stages can make all the difference and basically save lives.

My husband found out about The Angela Harrison Trust and Angela’s story when browsing the web in desperation to get information on PND. When I heard about Angela’s story I was determined I had to do something to help other sufferers and raise money for her charity so I organised a 36 mile cycle ride on The Camel Trail from Padstow to Wenford Bridge (Bodmin) and back, on February 27th 2010. This was a huge success and we raised £12,000. It was a fantastic day and it was good to meet other mothers that had also suffered from this horrendous illness.