Blaire Hannan

Blaire was a normal healthy, sporty child until the age of 13 when she developed a neurological and muscular condition. The condition was triggered by being hit on the leg with a hockey ball during a school match. Within a week she was unable to walk and was wheelchair bound. The chain reaction continued to develop and despite doctors best efforts, spread over the whole of her body over the next few years. She moved to a specialist school where she was introduced her to sailing. The independence sailing gave her inspired her on to complete her GCSE's in hospital. At the beginning of her AS-level year she grew even more ill spending much time in ITU leaving her with only the ability to move her mouth. A pioneering and controversial brain surgery was performed but she had several relapses over the next two years. In 2011 she became a member of the British Paralympic Transition Squad. She has competed in Skandia Sail for Gold and the IFDS world championships. Blaire has won a place to study Speech and Language Therapy at Manchester University. She is a volunteer at Sailability working with other disabled young people to introduce them to the self reliance that sailing has brought her.