Feature: The test of fire strengthens the steel

A tale of strength, community and true positive fighting spirit in the face of extreme adversity

Tatiana Timon was born and raised on the French-speaking island of Réunion. Known for its volcanic terrain, lush rainforest canopies, coral reefs and beaches overlooking the Indian Ocean, it offers a picture-perfect landscape that sounds nothing short of idyllic.

Today, Tatiana lives and works in the heart of London, having moved to the UK 12 years ago, at the age of 24. As a vivacious young woman unrelentingly determined to live life to the full, her bold decision to fully immerse herself in the language and culture of this part of the world is very much on brand.

She launched herself into a career at British steakhouse chain Hawksmoor, landing a position at the group’s original Spitalfields site. Having worked her way up to assistant restaurant manager, Tatiana fast became a well-loved and highly valued member of the team. Her inner warmth, dedication and zesty disposition made her the ideal candidate to excel in hospitality – but off-the-clock, Tatiana led another life ... as a demon on the dancefloor. It was this passion that took her on a dream holiday to Angola in 2022 to participate in a kizomba dance competition.

“Kizomba is a couple dance and music genre from Angola, influenced by zouk, which is from the West Indies,” she explains. “It’s something we listen to a lot on Réunion Island and it’s the music I really enjoy. I could listen to it every day.”

While London is a real melting pot for all forms of arts and culture, it’s rare to come across a zouk- or kizomba-related event in the city. So, naturally, Tatiana couldn’t wait  – especially since she had initially booked in 2020, the year that Covid hit, and so the trip had subsequently been postponed.

“It was 2022 – I think the end of April or beginning of May – that I went to Angola,” she says. “The organiser was French and I was among mostly French people, and it was just really cool. I spent 10 days there, dancing, partying and seeing some of the country. I was with people who shared the same passion and love, so we became very close.”

But when Tatiana returned to London, the nightmare began.

The unthinkable

What started as a normal day turned sideways when Tatiana had a collision with a pedestrian while cycling to work. “To be honest, I don’t really remember what happened,” she notes. “But apparently, a guy wearing a really big bag was close to the cycle path; I hit his bag and fell down. I do remember, actually, a strong pain on my right side, but I still went off to work. My notion of time was really off, because I thought this accident happened really shortly after I’d returned from Angola, but really it was about two weeks later.”

Having finished her shift feeling more than a little peculiar, Tatiana sought five days off and went to stay with a friend who lived nearby. “She told me that one day I was just suddenly really weak,” she says. The friend, increasingly concerned, assumed Tatiana’s state was all in relation to the recent bicycle accident and thought it best to call the ambulance. It was undoubtedly the right call at the right time as, little did she know, the truth of what was happening was far more terrifying.

Tatiana goes on: “So, when I was in the hospital, they asked my friend whether I had been abroad in the last 14 days, to which she said yes. ‘Okay,’ they told her, ‘She has malaria.’ And what they thought was just a normal case actually turned out to be the deadliest kind,” she adds. “They put me in a coma. I was in a coma for three or four weeks.”

Tatiana was taken out of the induced coma twice – once to ask consent to amputate both lower arms and hands (known as bilateral forearm amputation) and a second time to seek permission to amputate both legs above the knee (bilateral lower limb amputation). Malaria, particularly plasmodium falciparum infection, can lead to amputations due to a rare but severe complication called symmetrical peripheral gangrene, a condition that can cause tissue death due to a lack of blood flow in two or more extremities.

The situation was life or death. Tatiana has no recollection of signing the consent forms.

Meanwhile, the team at Hawksmoor were finding out the news. “The last time I had seen Tatiana was just after the accident, so obviously she was a bit sore,” says Julia Buchalska, general manager at the Spitalfields restaurant. “She took a few days off because of that. Then I was going on holiday, so before I left, I called Tatiana to see how she was doing and talk her through sick pay options. She sounded disorientated, but I never would have thought it was that serious.”

While away with her family, Julia received a call from a member of the team. “It was one of the managers here saying Tatiana was in a critical condition in the hospital. He had basically called me because he thought she would not make it.”

Immediately upon her return, Julia contacted Hawksmoor’s head office to make directors aware of Tatiana’s situation. She requested for the HR team to come to Spitalfields to help the team process what was happening. “We all thought we were going to have to say goodbye,” she recalls.

For Tatiana, waking up with no limbs was followed by months of gruelling exercise and rehabilitation. She had to relearn everything, including everyday things we too often take for granted, such as eating and speaking. In September 2022, less than three months after having her own removed, Tatiana received her first set of basic prosthetic legs from the NHS. Step one to gaining back her independence – but there was still a long way to go. “I needed a lot,” she says. “I needed a proper, accessible house for all my needs.” Five months later, she moved into her own flat, which proved to be among the most challenging adjustments of all in her new normal.

Hospitality Action

After working for Hawksmoor for many years, Julia was familiar with the important work of Hospitality Action (HA). The non-profit organisation, founded in 1837, has been supporting the UK’s hospitality sector for over 180 years. The charity offers a range of services to help current and former employees get back on their feet after a setback, including grants for household bills, rehousing costs, funerals and more, as well as providing advice services to do with debt, housing benefits and care. These days, the organisation is also inundated with matters related to mental health.

“We’re busier now than we’ve ever been,” says Jeremy Gibson, marketing and operations director at HA. “Post-Covid, calls to our helpline are up. The main things driving these calls are work-life balance and money worries. Since the pandemic, the cost of living has risen and lots of people in the sector are carrying debt, including many with rent arrears left over from the lockdown period. As rents have increased, we’ve definitely noticed more and more people coming to us who are at risk of homelessness. That kind of pressure at home drives anxiety that can bleed into the workplace.”

Within its Employee Assistance Programme, HA has seen a surge in cases where the provision of mental health care is required, alongside more practical aspects such as debt restructuring. “We help people manage their debt and provide support to deal with the immediate anxiety, but then also tackle the structural stuff to take care of the underlying issue,” he explains.

New starters at Hawksmoor are informed early on of the support and benefits available to them, and HA is a key service that is discussed. “I have had personal experience with HA and the communication has always been great,” says Julia.

“We’re lucky to work for Hawksmoor, since we are all made aware of the support that’s available and it is such a big focus for the business. We have a face-to-face counselling programme and encourage people to use it – I myself have used it. It’s definitely not something we’re shy to talk about. It’s not easy right now with costs going up, and hospitality is in quite a difficult spot. Lots of managers are struggling. It can be a lot.”

While Julia is well-versed in supporting colleagues through various challenges, never had she dealt with a matter as unique or complex as Tatiana’s. Unsure of the best next steps and given her past experience with the charity, she settled on HA as the best organisation to contact.

“I don’t remember who the first person I spoke to was, but they were amazing,” she affirms. “They were so understanding and compassionate and just couldn’t believe what had happened to Tatiana. They guided me and sent me an email with a lot of information, including other charities that we could reach out to.” But, Jeremy adds, Hawksmoor’s initial request was just for a dishwasher, a necessary–but–costly addition to Tatiana’s flat.

“We support Hawksmoor via our Employee Assistance Programme, so the call was initially routed through there,” he points out. “Tatiana had her new flat, which she’d kitted out herself, but there was a shortfall, so they had reached out for us to fund a dishwasher.”

Part of HA’s process with any case that comes in is to try and build a rapport with the person who applies. It’s often the case, as it was with Tatiana, that the reason people cite for their first application merely scratches the surface of the full picture.

“People might come to us because they’re in poverty, but actually there’s a domestic abuse situation or an addiction problem, something else below the surface,” notes Jeremy. “When we reviewed the paperwork for Tatiana’s case, we found out what was happening and thought, of course we can give her the dishwasher, but what else can we do?” From there, a series of conversations with Tatiana were held, through which the HA team learned of her GoFundMe page. She was hoping to raise £20,000 for a new set of high-tech prosthetic legs that would mean she could dance again.

Tatiana was awarded the largest grant to a single recipient in the history of HA

Jeremy goes on: “We took Tatiana’s case to our trustees. Within the board, we have a grand subcommittee, an external group to us that awards grants beyond the norm. We took it to them, and they signed off making up the shortfall for Tatiana’s prosthetics. It was at that time, and still is, the most significant single grant HA has ever given. We felt we could play a significant role in giving her her life back. For someone with such joie de vivre, we just wanted to do everything we could.”

Upon hearing the news, it took Tatiana a while to process exactly what was happening. “One of my friends was like, ‘Can you believe that they just gave you that much money?!’” and all I could think was, ‘Wow.’ It took me some time to understand. But I was just so grateful that they had even listened and wanted to help in the first place. I love HA and appreciate all the good work they continue to do for me.”

Tatiana’s is an incredible story of heart and resilience, not only demonstrating the power of community in the most trying of times, but also shining a light on the meaningful work carried out by vital organisations like HA. But of course, for Tatiana, the real gift came when she could don her legs and head back to the dancefloor to begin her new life.

“It was really emotional – I can’t really describe it,” she chimes. “If you haven’t done something you love for so long, when you finally get to do it, it’s magic. I listen to music with my heart, but I dance with my soul.”

While Tatiana’s connection with Hawksmoor will last a lifetime, the experience ultimately led her onto pastures new. She handed in her notice in April this year to pursue a qualification in counselling.

“Resigning felt like a breakup,” she laughs. “But honestly, I thought I would grow old with that team. It goes without saying that I will always love Julia and everyone at Hawksmoor. We have been through a lot together. They are my family. But it had to be done. Something in me had changed and I just no longer felt that I was supposed to be there. I really want to be helping people.

“HA has helped me a lot, and I just want to give back what I received. Mainly, I want to help other amputees. It’s a difficult journey at the beginning, so I want to be there for them. There are amazing counsellors out there, of course, but at the end of the day, they have no idea what it’s like to lose a limb. I can give people like me the support they need. I just feel like I have to do this.”

Tatiana has a lot of love for her former team and the folk at HA, and clearly the feeling is mutual.

\“We’re really passionate about the power of our beneficiaries; the people we meet are amazingly strong and all we do is give them a nudge towards realising their potential,” says Jeremy. “But we’re very mindful of the fact we often meet them at a really vulnerable point in their life. Understandably, most want to forget about it.

“So, it was massive for us when Tatiana agreed to tell her story,” he adds. “She’s such a force of nature, you can’t help but feel inspired.”

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