Defying the Myth - Signed

What began as a photographic project soon became a true collaboration with these families. Over time, through shared trust, vulnerability and care, this project has grown into something much larger—a community, a network, a family of its own. The book also features drawings, artworks, poems, and testaments made by the women and the children. 

The book shines a light on the struggles, and triumphs of three single mothers raising children with severe disabilities. This project is more than just a story of survival—it is a testament to love, creativity, and hope. In it we meet mothers Shoulana, Annalisa and Nicola and their children Kallan, Mekhye, Gabriel, Maria, Jaffa and Nuch. 

Carol said: “I initiated this project to create a vibrant voice for primary caregivers raising children with disabilities. The goal is to raise wide public awareness about the challenges of raising these children and the impact it has on family life. The book is an empathetic profile of the families and triggers a mandate to initiate opportunities to improve the quality of their lives”

She adds, “Defying the Myth is a celebration of resilience—an urgent and necessary story that challenges misconceptions, amplifies unheard voices, and redefines the way we understand disability and family.”

Also included in the book are forewords by Clarissa Ward, Chief International Correspondent CNN and Fiona Shields, Head of Photography for The Guardian News and Media. 

“This book insists, quietly and powerfully, that they be seen. Not as burdens. Not as tragedies. Not as the recipients of our pity or our inspiration. But as Kallan, who draws Transformers with obsessive precision and wears a shark fin at the aquarium and roars like a wolf in Battersea Park. As Mekhye, who was not supposed to survive childhood and is now twenty-two, defying every prognosis ever written about him. As Maria, who has six fingers and uses them to flash the heavy metal sign at the beach, sunglasses on, entirely unbothered” -Clarissa Ward 

“….the real surprise comes from the power of the work as a collaboration. The creativity that a shared mission has unlocked for everyone involved is remarkable. There is poetry, art, photography and above all there is love” - Fiona Shields 

All proceeds Carol receives from the sale of this book will go directly to Shoulana, Annalisa and Nicola, to nurture their children’s futures and carry their dreams forward.