22 Minutes of Fame in Spain

           Well, here I am in Spain, writing parts of this blog, I will finish it upon my return. 

  

So fortunate to have these guys as friends.

My dad had taken me to Newcastle Airport, on the 17th of September, and came inside with me briefly. The parking charges at Newcastle Airport are extortionate.

It has been some time since I last travelled, 2013 to be exact, when I travelled to America, which was my first time taking a flight and being outside of the UK, so not being experienced I found trying to find my way around the airport quite daunting. I could feel myself getting anxious, however, I am getting better at understanding my inner feelings, so changed this to a more positive "Oh you are just excited". I decided to approach the man on the Bureau de Change and after getting initial directions I figured out the next steps to eventually get to the boarding area.

I was flying with EasyJet and have to say the plane was a little smaller than I expected. My recollection of my last flights all those years ago where of bigger planes with more room, this is of course, when I think about it, was because they were International flights, taking many hours and not just a 2-hour hop over. 

The flight over was without incident, I was in a window seat and as we were coming in towards Alicante I could see the sky light up with flashes of lightning which looked amazing.

Those unexpected Moments !

 There you are just going through life, nothing appears to be going your way, things appearing to be static, mundane, boring and nothing to really look forward to, then all of a sudden in a heart beat whilst you are lying on your bed feeling sorry for yourself, you get a WhatsApp message. As I reached for my glasses in order to pick up my phone and see who had contacted me, I saw that it was my friend Dragos, with a somewhat cryptic clue... 

  

Love & Hope International Film Festival

"Looks like you are Practicing your Spanish".

Huh!  

This was then followed with two images and a brief explanation that Dragos had posted on Facebook. 

As I read Dragos's messages it became clear that we had been officially selected to take part in the Love & Hope International Film Festival in Barcelona... Wow !

This was for the short documentary Dragos had shot, which portrayed part of my journey from taking ill in 1995 to overcoming some tough times and rediscovering my passion for cycling.

Once the excitement of the news wore off a little I immediately set about stressing. Why you may ask. Well if you follow my blog and stories you will know that of late I have been rather unwell. I have now been off work for going on 4 months, with a horrible disease called ulcerative colitis. I have only just been diagnosed and I am currently on treatment. 

So my stressing started when Dragos asked " Have you got your passport"?

"Omg! Dragos actually would like me to attend the event in person" and spend sometime with him and other members of the team who made the film, as well as all the people who would attend the festival.

 

Love & Hope International Film Festival

I informed Dragos "No I hadn't gotten around to sorting my passport", as we had discussed this months earlier, explaining I had taken unexpectedly ill. That said now that the treatment had kind of improved my symptoms I could look into getting my passport sorted. Dragos sent me a link to a dot Gov website to get my passport done urgently. I had a quick Scooby at the website then got off my bed, went and had a shower and a shave and tidied myself up. I then went immediately up to my local Post Office in Stanley to see if I could get a Passport sorted there quickly.

At the Post Office the staff were amazing, so very helpful. I explained the situation and was informed that if I got the passport done at the Post Office there would be no guarantee that the passport would arrive in time ( It had to arrive before the 17th September). I discussed the info I had read on the government website and the Post Mistress explained there was a Passport office in Durham and that I could make an appointment with it online  to receive an urgent passport.

I asked would it be possible to have my identification photos taken at the Post Office, just I didn't want to risk taking them myself, and them not being approved. Again the staff were ever so helpful and did all the selection and button pressing of the Photo Booth machine. Thank god they were there as there was no way I could have done it myself, I am blind as a bat without my gigs on and after removing them I couldn't read any of the instructions and prompts. There was a little bit of a stressful moment as the photo machine wouldn't accept payment in coins, however it eventually accepted two £5 notes. Job done.

I returned home and began my application which was pretty straight forward. The passport cost just over £207 and I now have an appointment to attend the Passport office at Durham, I should then receive my passport one week later.

Following this I wanted to give my manager at work a ring. Again stress getting the better of me. I mean here I was in my mind planning a trip away, yet I was and have been on the sick for around 4 months. When I spoke to my manager she was very supportive asI explained my situation, letting her know that I would be returning to work before I planned to head off to Spain, asking would it be okay to put some Annual Leave in for the days off. There is no way I would have sneaked off on a quick holiday or get away whilst on the sick.

It's funny how my mam springs to mind whenever I am not feeling well. You see my mam was old school. When I was a child if I was sick and off school  I was not allowed to go out and play. That was the rule and that rule has lived with me right until this day. So now that I am off work, regardless of what aliment I have I only ever go out unless it is absolutely necessary, like for hospital or doctor appointments. If you are too ill to goto work, you are too ill to be socialising or doing anything that involves being out and about rings in my ears in my mothers voice.

After speaking to my manager I felt a lot more relaxed not just about the trip, but also about moving forward in my return to work.

Next I got back in touch with Dragos with a quick message, Dragos then rang me and we had a back and forth conversation. From here things moved really quickly and before I knew it Dragos had arranged dates, booked flights and very kindly paid for them. I have to say I felt guilty about not paying my way. I am not used to such generosity and from day one of meeting Dragos he hasn't asked anything of me other than friendship and the opportunity to promote his work, which I am only to happy to do.

We now had an itinerary and plans for my visit to Spain, this involved Dragos meeting me once the plane landed in Alicante, driving to his villa in Valencia, a few days there, then a 3 hour drive to Barcelona for the film festival and time permitting some mountain bike riding back in Valencia, before flying back home. A lot to fill in in 4 to 5 days.

I am not well travelled, my last and only trip away was when I went to America, way back in 2013. This was an epic 3 week adventure where I had to wear my big boy pants and it really gave me a sense of independence and adventure, and now all these years later I have another opportunity, which I am both most grateful and feel very fortunate for.

Loosing my leg was a huge blow to me, however in hindsight in some bizarre and highly weird way it has been a ludriciously positive turn of events. I can honestly say if I had my own two legs I probably would never have travelled, and upon my life journey I would not have met some of the most amazing, friendly and supportive people around the world, who have gone on to inspire me.

I will make sure to blog of events upon my return, hopefully with some interesting pictures.

3 Awards From The IndieFest Film Awards

Following my ride out this morning I retuned to some fantastic news from my good friend Dragos who shot the short documentary telling my story. Dragos informed me that the film had been awarded 3 awards of excellence. This is awesome and hopefully just the start of more awards.

From my point of view I don't consider myself to be a Hero, that is the title of the film, which was created and presented to me way before filming even began. The concept and ideas, the creation to the final result all goes down to the dedicated hard work of the team of people who put so much time and effort into capturing part of someones life and retelling their story, trying to encapsulate the highs and lows and hopefully inspiring an audience.

I feel so grateful to have been invited to recount my story and as an added bonus met some amazing people. A huge thank you to everyone involved and also to Indie Fest for the recognition.

Meet The Local Hero - Glenn Johnstone has just been honoured with not one, not two, but THREE prestigious awards from The IndieFEST 

Film Awards

Award of Excellence Special Mention - Documentary Short

Award of Excellence: Disability Issues

Award of Excellence: Editing

We are over the moon with gratitude and excitement! 

 Huge thanks to The Indie Festfor recognizing our film in these categories.  It's a testament to the incredible efforts of our dedicated team.

To everyone who supported us on this journey, THANK YOU!  Your encouragement and enthusiasm mean the world to us. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to share the inspiring story of Glenn Johnstone, our Local Hero.

A Teaser for " Meet The Local Hero" A Dragos Teglas Film

Hello and Best wishes for the New Year, its my first post of 2024.

Already a mixed bag of really exciting Highs "Yay" and really stressful and frustrating lows "Boo"! 

My blog as anyone who likes to follow it or comes across the various things I post, will know it is about keeping it real. I don't live in a Social Media world of fake news and endless rays of sunshine where my life is super hunky dory every single day. Nope I am just an ordinary bloke, who like a great deal of other people is trying to make the most of this thing we call life, find fun, love and happiness and try to put all the other crap to one side.

You may ask well what is going on ? Well I will start with the Low as I would like to end on a positive. I mean who wants to listen to someone whine on right?

Basically it's the same old same old and for those amputees out there you will totally get this " Socket Fit". I was off work 4 1/2 months at the start of 2023 as my socket was killing me. I was bottoming out and basically mobilising weight bearing on my cut femur. I attended the Disability Service Centre and after a number of visits a socket was produced and "Aww Crap" it didn't fit. I then just informed the DSC and my prosthetist to put my old socket back on to my knee and went back to work. Well it's been over a year, walking around with an ill fitting socket. I have tried all sorts, of temporary fixes, extra stump socks, two, even 3 seals and it hasn't really solved the problem. Tomorrow I am back to the DSC I have been seeing a new prosthetist and hopefully I will be getting a "Boa adjustable socket" and it will fit and I can go on my happy way. I am trying to keep an open and positive mind, as man this ill fitting socket has really knocked my confidence in my mobility and has me in a right moody frame of mind. It doesn't help that my cycling socket is an exact replica of my current everyday socket, so although I am still cycling everyday, mainly on my indoor Turbo Trainer, I am constantly having to stop and adjust my socket.

And that is all I have to really complain about.

Okay, positives, well last year I was invited to take part in a short documentary film. It has now all been put together and is just about due for release. Dragos the film maker and now very close friend keeps me updated and he was very pleased to announce that the film has been nominated so far for 5 film festivals. This is great news and so exciting.

 

I am no longer on Facebook, however I know "This is Insomnia" the production company has a Facebook page.

Checkout: https://www.facebook.com/meethelocalhero/

There is also a video teaser here at Vimeo : https://vimeo.com/901888387

I really would like to see the film do well, not because I consider myself a local hero as the title suggests, no its because Dragos and everyone involved in the making of the film have put so much hard work into its production. Dragos wanted a specific message to be taken from the film and I think he has captured that. The fact that as I have said I am just an ordinary lad, I was never going to be a world champ BMX'er or Downhill racer, no I just wanted to get back to doing something I had a passion for from being a young kid and that was riding on 2 wheels, making my own adventures and seeing where the trail took me. I am not a competitive person, the majority of challenges I have faced in my life have been personal ones, and these have all shaped me into the person I am today, hopefully with a positive message to do what makes you happy and try to overcome your own personal battles.

A huge thank you to everyone involved in the making of this film and I look forward to peoples take on the film.

Meet The Local Hero

About 6 or 7 months ago, I was contacted quite unexpectedly by a gentleman named Dragos Mostenescu. Dragos went on to explain that he was a producer, writer and actor in his native country of Romania, and that upon discovering my Blog, he and a friend of his, also named Dragos, Dragos Teglas, who is a film director, were very interested in my story.

In further conversation, Dragos mentioned that they already had an idea in place, for a short film, something along the lines of "Meet the Local Hero". Dragos provided me with links to his website and also for the other Dragos, so that I could see their past work and accomplishments, that they had each been involved in.

 

From left to right, Cosmin, Dragos M, The Ern, Oren, Me & Dragos T, plus Joy the dog and Kosher the kitten