Lindsay Ziehl: From Grief and Cancer to Humanitarian Change-Maker

Episode Summary

Lindsay Ziehl has lived enough lives for ten people — and at 77, she’s still not done. Born in Britain and raised across Australia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, Lindsay survived two cancers, raised her son Andrew alone after her husband walked out, and was stranded in South Africa during COVID when she received the phone call every parent dreads. Rather than be consumed by grief, she channelled it into the Andrew Ziehl Foundation and a lifetime of frontline humanitarian work — training over 3,000 women escaping domestic violence and personally intervening to secure the release of trafficked women. In this conversation with Mon and Mazz, Lindsay shares two unforgettable pieces of wisdom: a rabbi’s three-word reframe, and a little cat with a frozen chicken that changed the way she saw her own strength.

Episode Pillars

• The Nomadic Foundation: How a childhood of constant movement across Australia, the UK and Africa shaped Lindsay’s resilience and her lifelong instinct to help others.

• A Son Called Andrew: Raising him alone, letting him fly back to Australia, and receiving the phone call no parent ever expects — during a global pandemic, unable to travel.

• Turning Grief Into Purpose: The rabbi’s three-word reframe — “Not why, but what now?” — and how that single shift led to founding the Andrew Ziehl Foundation.

• Two Cancers and a Cat: Surviving Paget’s disease and breast cancer, riding a four-hour bus to chemo alone, and the moment a tiny cat with a frozen chicken reminded her to get back up.

• Domestic Violence Frontlines: Over 25 years running shelters, training 3,000 women, and securing the release of trafficked women just one day before they were sent abroad.

The Kintsugi Connection

To see the visual story of Lindsay’s journey and explore more episodes of resilience, visit our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@kintsugiheroes/videos

If Lindsay’s story moved you, explore these related Hero conversations:

• Navigating grief and loss? Explore another Grit Diaries episode on life after unimaginable loss. • Finding purpose after adversity? Explore another episode on turning pain into action