Tai chi meets yoga: teacher Ella Tham endures horrific attack to create class focused on chronic pain and rehabilitation
- Vietnamese-born, Austria-raised Tham has created a fusion between a traditional martial art and a traditional fitness discipline
- Tham says a horrific assault and rehabilitation process helps her connect with her students who have chronic pain
In 2015, Ella Tham headed to Singapore for spinal surgery to deal with a number of lingering issues with her back. A few days after the surgery she went for an early morning walk wearing a neck brace and was viciously, randomly attacked by a man with mental health issues.
The assault put Tham back in hospital, dealing with paralysis issues down one side of her body. She spent a year in a wheelchair and said the ordeal left her broken down physically and mentally, but therein lied an opportunity to rebuild herself.
“I started training and doing anything I could in a therapeutic way,” said Tham, noting the overworked public hospitals in Hong Kong could offer little in terms of rehabilitation options.
“I would try to move around in my wheelchair and do what I could. I understood the doctors and nurses were always in a shortage. The only thing they would ask you is, ‘How is your pain from 1 to 10?’ And then they give you medication. So I knew I had to do it myself.”
