Family overcomes obstacles, enjoys TV-sponsored trip

Leigh Blakeley and her children Many people say Leigh Blakeley is no ordinary lady, and the Discovery Channel seems to agree. The Newbury Park woman and her three children will appear in next week's episode of "Get Out There," an Animal Planet program about saving endangered animals in Tortuguero, Costa Rica. The show is scheduled to air at 8 p.m. Thurs., April 27.

"We select families who are overdue for a holiday," said Discovery Channel producer Neil Laird.

Blakeley's passionate and energetic personality and her inspiring life experience were a perfect match, according to the producer.

A casting company had discovered the courageous local woman at a restaurant more than three years ago.

The impromptu adventure was a welcome reprieve for Blakeley, who's had more than her share of challenges over the past 10 years.

Blakeley's younger son, Harrison King, is a cancer survivor. Her middle child, Blakeley King, has battled acute asthma and her daughter, Chelsea, was in a nearly fatal car accident five years ago.

Blakeley's painful divorce from her husband was like salt in a wound, but there was more hardship to come: her fiance of six years succumbed to lung cancer on his 43rd birthday.

But Blakeley forged ahead despite the pain.

According to producer Laird, the family's emotional turmoil together with their financial woes made them deserving of the unusual vacation.

While in Costa Rica, the Blakeley-King family went beyond the tourist trails to help the Caribbean Conservation Corps save Atlantic Green Sea turtles that lay their eggs on the black beaches of Tortuguero.These turtles lay their eggs on only two beaches in the world.

When the cameras were rolling, the family worked with biologists to track, tag and record the behavior of endangered species.

One thing Blakeley had to confront was her fear of monkeys.

She didn't mind the howler monkeys, who look like gorillas and can be heard from as far as five miles away, but Blakely didn't like the antics of the small white-faced monkeys.

"The capuchins are mean little buggers and they were throwing their (excrement) at us from the jungle canopy," Blakeley said.

There were also spider moneys, which have prehensile tails and swing in the trees.

"While tourists are only allowed to look at animals, we got to experience and touch them," said 11-year-old Harrison, who enjoyed the limelight.

"The experience provided us with an opportunity to get away from all the drama our family went through," said Blakeley, Leigh's 16-year-old son.

"We came together to do special things with each other," he said.

The show was supervised but there were no scripts to read from, he added. "It was just about the reality of being there. The main focus was to bond and experience these things together." The highlight was to work hand-in-hand with biologists and get on the field with the animals, according to Blakeley.

"The experience was recognition of the things we went through," his mother said tearfully.

The producer's queries uncovered some of Leigh's deep-down feelings during a daylong shoot at the family's home in Newbury Park. Reticent because she doesn't usually dwell on the negative; "I just live day to day and move forward," she said.

The kids inherited their mother's strong spirit. Blakeley is a triple-threat athlete who plays football and soccer and runs track at Newbury Park High School. Harrison is on an all-star soccer team and 20-year-old Chelsea attends UC San Diego with plans to become a plastic surgeon. She's also a talented artist, her mom said, as she pointed to a colorful painting of a Costa Rican girl.

A homemaker for 15 years, Blakeley had to go back to work after her divorce. She served briefly as a hostess, waitress and bartender before she decided to become an associate Realtor for RE/MAX four years ago.

"She faced more adversity than one may face in a lifetime," said Melysa Der Sarkissian, account executive for a company that promotes RE/MAX real estate agents. She believes the new career is a good match for the independent-thinking Blakeley.

The "Get Our There" series premiered about a month ago. The local family is one of just two to on an international trip.

The family learned how fragile an ecosystem is, Laird said. "We try to infuse that in the series."

And Blakeley and her kids embraced the endeavor. "They were a spunky group," the producer said.