Life Changing

• The Great Escape

  As a bright adventurous 16 year-old, Angela Tilley was thrilled to get a job in a busy London office. But after a year's unwanted attention from one of her co-workers, attention that today we would call stalking, she started having panic attacks on the way to work. The attacks became a debilitating daily occurrence, leaving her mentally and physically exhausted. Her courage in pushing back against her fears, forging a career and having a family came at a huge personal cost. But one seemingly innocuous purchase was about to change her life forever.Angela tells Dr Sian Williams about how she overcame her challenges and how she managed to stop her phobia defining her life. Producer: Tom Alban

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• The Reluctant Hero

  Husband and father, Larry O’Brien, loved the freedom his job as a long-distance lorry driver gave him. But on March 6th 1987, that freedom was almost lost in the horror of the Zeebrugge ferry disaster, in which almost 200 people lost their lives. Larry – who could not swim – risked his own life to pull 30 people to safety. Almost 40 years later, Larry tells Dr Sian Williams why he never felt like a hero, how he came to terms with what happened, and why – after a career change into local politics – he decided to return to the road. Producer: Tom Alban

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• The Girl Gambler

  When 18-year-old Stacey Goodwin got a job at a bookies, she put a pound coin into a slot machine and won enough money for a night out with her pals. It was the trigger for a destructive gambling addiction that led to a life of shame, brutal isolation and deceit. The money she lost over an eight-year period was eye-watering – on one occasion, frittering away a £50,000 online win in a matter of days. Sometimes suicidal, and always lonely, it was the damage she did to those closest to her which hurt the most.When her addiction saw her undermine the financial security of someone she loved, she reached a crossroads. Stacey tells Dr Sian Williams how she found the strength to ask for help - and turned her life around. Producer: Tom AlbanWarning: This episode contains discussions around suicide. Details of help and support are available through the BBC Action Line at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

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• The Piano Tuner's Tale

  In 1977, Ed Stewart was a happy-go-lucky teenager with his whole life ahead of him. With a new engineering job, a girlfriend and a motorbike, life was good. But when he dropped in on a friend’s party, a violent row with another teenager - who was carrying a shotgun - turned Ed’s whole life on its head. Ed had to learn to navigate the world in an entirely different way, but he made a success of it - becoming a piano tuner to the stars and counting Jools Holland and Brian Ferry as his customers. Despite a life of adversity, he tells Dr Sian Williams how not just one, but two Life Changing moments led him to be what he refers to as a “glass-three-quarters-full” kind of bloke. Producer: Tom Alban

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• A White Christmas for Annabelle

  For Lisa Hover and her husband Andy, life on the Hampshire Dorset border with their family of four children seemed idyllic. Even when a routine sight test on their young daughter Annabelle picked up an abnormality, it all seemed manageable. But the abnormality turned out to be early sight loss, which itself masked a more severe and life shortening genetic condition. With no cure available, Annabelle was determined the most from her limited life span. Lisa talks to Dr Sian Williams about the challenges, joys and sadness she experienced - and Annabelle's dream to have a white Christmas with all the family. Producer: Tom Alban

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