Fashion Design lecturer wins 1 Carat Diamond
Debra Theresa De Cotta walked into the Lee Hwa boutique at Plaza Singapura (Singapore) and walked away with the prize of a One Carat Destinee Diamond. She was nominated by her sister, Corinth.
She was judged “Most Inspirational Woman” out of a pool of close to 400 entries as part of the contest on the hit Channel NewsAsia show, What Women Want… Really.
Contest entries were submitted by friends, husbands, children and relatives, etc nominating an inspirational woman they know who they thought was deserving of the prize. The entries detailed numerous stories of sacrifice, love, welfare, compassion and determination.
De Cotta had a brain tumour in her thirties resulting in the paralysis of her right hand. She was right-handed. She was then a budding fashion designer and had to put her career aspirations on hold.
At 47, after a series of “simple jobs”, she decided to resume her lifelong dream. She learnt to draw with her left hand and finally embarked on a degree in Fashion Design.
Judging the contest was Sharon Lim, Editor-in-Chief of Elle Magazine Singapore, Kean Ng of Lee Hwa Jewelley and Constance Singham, Social Activist and former president of AWARE.
Judges felt De Cotta was a survivor, whose sacrifice and determination was an inspiration to those around her. “She has a ripple effect on the people who come into contact with her”, said Lim.
Lee Hwa’s One Carat Destinee Diamond is worth S$25,000.
Winning entry by Ms Corinth De Cotta
The inspirational women would be my sister, Debra Theresa De Cotta. Why..well
When she was in her early thirties she took part in the National New Paper Marathon. Regrettably, during the race she had a fall and hit her head. She was admitted to Mount Elizabeth hospital and it was there that she learned that she also had a small tumour growing at the bottom of her brain.
She was recommended to go for an operation to remove it or else in a matter of time, the tumour would keep on drawing blood from her brain and it will grow and she will die. At that time the size of the tumour was about a 20 cents coin. having no choice she opted to go for the operation.
Her operation removed the tumour successfully but unfortunately the operation went a little bit wrong and it left her half paralysed on the whole of her right side from the top to the bottom. She could not walk as the right leg would not move, she could not talk as half the mouth was paralysed, she could not write or eat with her right hand as her right hand was paralyzed. She was then a budding fashion designer and drawing with right hand was her life.
However, through sure determination and after many many months physio therapy, she managed to gain full recovery of her right side. However, she is still unable to use her right hand and she walks with a slight limp.
She then had to struggle and learn to write and drawn from scratch with her left hand. Doing simple jobs to keep her occupied. Her passion was still to be a Fashion Designer. To her and our amazement, she learned to drawn with her left hand. She now draw much better with her left hand then she did with her right hand.
Then at 47 she decided to take a degree in Fashion Designing. She completed her Fashion Designing degree at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and today she is a part-time lecturer at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and Temasek Polytechnic. Her students see her as an inspiration in achieving their goals and know that they can succeed if there is a will. The students all see and my sister Debra as a living inspiration.
And if that is not enough, she also had to struggle through her studies while being a lifeline to her soul mate, Colin Bewley who died of cancer just two years ago.
I can go on with the many wonders that she has done, like doing the costume for the Nutcracker, doing the national costume for the Singapore Eurasian etc, etc. but I leave you to explore the many other aspect of her. She truly deserve to be rewarded and recognised for her efforts.
More inspiring entries here. |
