Page 54 - Great Elizabethans

Born with a condition called spina bifida, Tanni Grey-Thompson is an amazingly successful athlete and a powerful campaigner for the rights of people with disabilities. She is also a TV presenter – and a member of the House of Lords!
NEVER HELD BACK
In the summer of 1969, in Cardiff, Wales, a baby girl was born. She was christened Carys Davina, but when her older sister first saw her, she called her “Tiny” instead. “Tiny” turned to “Tanni” – and that was what the baby’s name became!
Tanni had been born with spina bifida, which meant that her spine hadn’t developed properly. From the age of seven, she needed to use a wheelchair to get around, but Tanni’s parents didn’t want that to hold her back. They wanted her to try and achieve whatever she wanted to – their attitude was always “get on with it!” They had to fight for a long time for Tanni to attend a mainstream school, rather than a school for children with disabilities, but both Tanni and her parents were determined that it was where she belonged.
When Tanni was 13, she began wheelchair racing. She represented Wales when she was 15 in the Junior National Wheelchair Games and won the 100-metre race – the first of many, many wins for Tanni.
As well as wheelchair racing, Tanni enjoyed other sports as a child, including horse riding, archery, basketball and swimming.
FIRST MEDAL
When she was still a teenager, Tanni had to have an operation in which a steel rod was used to help straighten her spine. After she recovered, she was determined to compete in bigger races, so she joined a sports club in Cardiff for athletes who used wheelchairs. (Sometimes she and her friends raced each other on the ramps in multi-storey car parks – which was very dangerous!) She was soon in training for the 1988 Seoul Paralympics – and she came home from the competition with her first bronze medal.
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