Shiya was moved from Colombo, Sir Lanka to the UK for brain operations, after an army bomb blast in 2008 left her in a coma for over 3 months. She spent her first months in Dulwich and Milton Keynes before moving to Stoke-on-Trent, where she has now lived nearly 8 years. She is particularly fond of the people in Stoke, “I love [the] friendly people, everybody’s friendly, strangers or everybody.“. She also appreciates the studying opportunities available too, “I feel settled here because of the opportunities and studywise, wide variety of subjects and different syllabus in England.”

She married a local man Tony Wright in December 2016 who she now lives with in Blurton. Both are active members in the New Vic theatre and Appetite arts programme, “I love Appetite because they bring me as a disabled leader and give [me] the opportunity to take on my project, so opportunities for disabled. They open the door for us to work it out...in our project and in our life.” Her project Rhythm of Life aims to help ethnic minority women know their rights.