Kayleigh
"I first got my ears pierced the summer before secondary school started, so I was only 11. I'd wanted them done for ages and I was so happy that my parents finally let me have them done. I remember it was my twelfth birthday and I had gone with my parents to visit my Nan.
I walked in and she immediately said "oh I've got something you'd like". As I was so excited, the whole time I was wondering what it could be. She walked to the the jewellery box - it was the cutest little jewellery box. I looked through it all the time when I was younger, I loved seeing the little trinkets she had in there."
"She got out a small box and inside were the prettiest earrings. It was one of the most special gifts I've received, more so because they were my very first pair of earrings but it turned out that they were hers as well. I cherished them and wore them every single day for three years.
Me and my family would go swimming every Saturday, and one day we were having fun when I'd realised that the earrings were not there anymore. I was absolutely devastated. I couldn't believe that I had lost the single most important possession I owned in my life.
I was too busy crying and getting worked up, so my dad spent twenty minutes dipping underwater to look for them. Luckily he found them again, I was so relieved and thought that my dad was a hero.
It's safe to say that I learnt my lesson to never wear them when swimming again!"
Photos: Michelle Carroll