Amanda Ede, W. Sussex in The Daily Mail, Friday, July 24, 1998
I have attended firewalking seminars held by Simon Treselyan and Ian Fox (mail) not once, but twice. I was introduced to the seminars by my boyfriend and have to admit that, at first, I was rather dubious about them. I thought anyone who would even consider walking over hot coals must be mad.
It took some persuasion but I eventually agreed to go with him and I'm glad that I did because I found the whole experience amazing, unlike anything else I've ever done.
The energy and enthusiasm I felt was incredible. For a while it was possible to forget that anything else existed apart from myself, the fire and the group around me.
I'm usually fairly restrained and quiet, but my confidence was brought out by the amount of encouragement everyone gave each other and the feelings this produced.
Part of the reason behind doing the Firewalk was to overcome personal fears and break through barriers.
We each had to list our fears and problems on paper and then place them in the wood to be burned along with it to create the hot coals we would walk across, symbolising overcoming our fears.
Richard Alleyne's account of his Firewalk (mail) brought back some good memories for me and encouraged me to write about my experience and the amazing feelings you have.
No one was burned or injured on the nights when I went hot-coal walking!
