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My Real Image

Clemency Clarke

The MRI scan is a useful diagnostic tool to look into a patient’s brain, but it cannot show the emotional state of that person or read their story.

From the play ‘Cancer Tales’ and the words of Claire I was struck by her fear for the people she loved. She was scared that she would never get to see them again and she knew that they would miss her. This made me think about the importance of friends and family throughout the whole experience of a person’s illness – they are always on the patient’s mind.

I have taken the diagnostic tool of a scan of the mid-sagittal plane and imbued it with the emotions that Claire felt – ‘constant fear for my children, my husband and my friends’. These people take the place of the Gyra of the brain. Each one is frightened for the patient they love and is curled up into a foetal position to protect themselves from the fear and anguish, trying to regain a sense of calm or safety.

Whole Person Care, Year One, 2010