Doctors told my parents to say their final goodbyes to me, then I woke up

‘It’s gold!’ my pilot Danni shouted to me as we crossed the finish line at the 2024 Para-Cycling Track World Championships back in March.

I couldn’t believe it, we’d just won our third world title of the competition. I was absolutely elated.

I started getting flashbacks of all the challenges I’d been through since a life-changing incident left me blind in 2017 – learning how to sit up again, to walk again, and adapting to a life without vision – and suddenly, everything just felt so worth it.  

Aged 19, I was starting my second year of university when I contracted a rare form of E.coli, from suspected food poisoning.

It led to multiple organ failure, collapsed lungs and heart failure in a very short space of time.

I was put in a medically induced coma for eight weeks, so I have no recollection of what was going on around me – only what my parents and medical staff have since told me. 

Doctors told my parents on several occasions that I may not pull through, and they had to say goodbye to me a few times. 

Luckily, I pulled through. 

I don’t remember much from my time in hospital, but when I woke up I had totally lost my eyesight. To be honest, I don’t really remember waking up. 

Losing my sight was a complete shock to everyone as doctors had been working so hard to keep me alive and my major organs working that going blind was almost the last thing they’d thought about.

I was also extremely weak. I couldn’t sit up, or walk, and I basically had to start from scratch.

Life as I knew it had ended.

I’d been an absolutely horse-mad teenager up until then. Riding horses was my hobby, my sport, my passion, my social life – it was essentially my whole world.

I was down at the stables every weekend, and had always intended for horses to be a part of my future.

But now, I couldn’t walk or see. I thought I’d never ride again.

It took time to come to terms with my sight loss. I liked to be independent, so needing help with the simplest of tasks was very frustrating. 

But I decided that I had two options – I could either sit around feeling sorry for myself (which was understandable given all I’d gone through!), or I could try and achieve something I would never have done even with my eyesight.

So, I turned to sport to help me through it. And, in a cliched way, it saved me.  

The doctors and nurses at UCLH and St Barts Hospital made sure I got my horse fix while I was in their care to help cheer me up. 

They somehow got a horse up to the 13th floor in the goods lift and brought him to me in one of the rooms. 

A patient called the lift on the way up, and I was told the look on their face when they saw a horse staring back at them was priceless!

It was such a surreal experience, and in an otherwise scary, sad, awful time for myself, my family, and the hospital staff. It brought so much joy and felt like a bit of home.

And, while I’d assumed I wouldn’t ride again, I was so wrong.

I’d lost my sight, but not the skill. It was me who drove the idea of getting back on a horse. I was desperate to get back in the saddle and went back to the horse I’d always ridden. 

It felt really scary and different, but I believe good horse riding goes more off feel than sight, so I got back into the swing of things quite quickly without much direction. 

The range of Para-equestrian disciplines, including dressage, showjumping and combined driving, meant I even started showjumping again.

After my return to horse-riding, I was ready for the next challenge. 

My first feat was a parkrun in September 2018, the same year I learned to walk again. My dad ran with me, holding my elbow to guide me and because I was so new on my feet, it was really hard. I actually threw up afterwards! 

But it was such an achievement, and helped me prove to myself what I could still be capable of. If anything, it spurred me on to keep going. To keep aiming higher, for bigger and better.

It left me wanting more, so I ran the London Marathon in 2019, raising £15,000 for the RNIB. 

I’ve heard people say that progress starts outside of your comfort zone, and this was very much the case for me

I switched to a different saddle in 2020, after attending a British Cycling Talent ID Day to be tested for entry onto their Paralympic foundation programme. I had very little cycling experience, but the experience was life-changing.

Heading into the velodrome that day, I was so scared – I think I was actually shaking. I’ve heard people say that progress starts outside of your comfort zone, and this was very much the case for me. 

It was the first time since I’d lost my sight that I’d been with people I didn’t know so that was really nerve-wracking.

While at first cycling was scary, I came away feeling really positive and like this was an environment I really wanted to be a part of. I received a call from British Cycling a few weeks later, saying they wanted me to join the para-cycling Foundation programme.

It was also my first real experience of the Paralympic community, and being around people who were also overcoming their own challenges has really helped me build confidence in what I can achieve myself.

It paved the way to the person I am now. 

Cycling has been fantastic for fitness and my physical ability, but the main thing I’ve noticed is how much more confident and independent I’ve been since being part of the Great Britain Cycling Team. 

I’ve met new people, travelled around the world and have achieved so much personally, all in my 20s – sometimes the best things really do happen when you least expect them.

I can’t believe that two years later I was a World Championship silver medallist for Great Britain, after participating in the 2022 UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships in France. 

Last year, I managed to win gold and bronze at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Scotland.

I also couldn’t do it without my pilot, Danni, who as well as being an incredible cyclist, is my eyes in the velodrome. 

We have a tandem bike and Danni sits at the front, doing everything from navigating the race, to reading our competitors’ tactics. She’s called the pilot, and I sit behind – I’m called the ‘stoker’ and provide the power as we cycle in sync. 

Winning those three gold medals back in March was only our first event together; and now we’ve been selected for our Paralympic Games debut this year. It was a real ‘pinch me’ moment; I couldn’t believe it when I heard, but I couldn’t be more excited.

I am honoured to have her by my side. 

None of it would have been possible without the support of British Cycling and the funding from The National Lottery, which enables me to train full-time and have access to the best facilities, coaches, physios and nutritionists.

It’s transformed my cycling career and given me the best chance, despite all the adversity I have faced.

The only way is up from here.

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