Anne Wafula Strike

Anne Wafula Strike MBE (born 8 May 1969) is a Harlow-based British Paralympic wheelchair racer. Born in Mihuu, Kenya, she contracted polio at the age of two, resulting in a later Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital diagnosis of below T7 paralysis.[1] Arriving in the UK in April 2000, she was introduced to wheelchair racing in 2002 and in 2004 became the first Kenyan wheelchair racer to represent her country, competing in the T53[2] 400m finals at the Paralympics in Athens. Following a successful application for British citizenship in 2006, she became a member of Team GB and, after reclassification, now competes in the T54 racing category as a British athlete. A past winner of the BBC's 'My Story' competition,[3] her autobiography In my Dreams I Dance was published by HarperCollins in 2010.[4]

She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to disability sport and charity.[5] In January 2017, while on a CrossCountry train, she was unable to reach a toilet on time due to sitting in a wheelchair. She lost control of her bladder and urinated into her clothing. In the aftermath, she criticised CrossCountry for failing to provide a working disabled accessible toilet on the train.[6]

Anne has one child - named Timothy - with her husband Norman.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "apparelyzed.com". www.apparelyzed.com. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  2. ↑ http://ipc-athletics.paralympic.org/export/sites/ipc_sports_athletics/Classification/2010_07_16_IPC_Athletics_Classification_Handbook_2006.pdf%5Bpermanent+dead+link%5D
  3. ↑ "BBC – My Story".
  4. ↑ Wafula Strike, Anne (2010). In My Dreams I Dance, HarperCollins, London. ISBN 978-0-00-735428-3.
  5. ↑ "No. 60895". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 2014. p. b24.
  6. ↑ Taylor, Diane (2 January 2017). "Paralympian forced to wet herself on train without accessible toilet". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  7. ↑ Stenning, Paul (24 November 2013). Success - By Those Who've Made It. Pg. 207. In Flight Books. ISBN 978-1628475869.



This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.